Police affidavit says bloody handprint led to arrest in murder of Erie native in Florida
More information has emerged on what led investigators to make an arrest in the case of an Erie native stabbed to death in Florida on April 1.
Police in St. Petersburg relied on a bloody handprint found in the apartment of the victim, Timothy Pustelak, according to a court document.
The document shows that police used forensic analysis to match the handprint to that of the man charged in the case ― Jovante D. Darling, 31, arrested on April 9, eight days after Pustelak, 49, was found dead inside his apartment in St. Petersburg.
Police found the handprint "on a wall inside of the victim's bedroom where the incident is believed to have started," according to the document, a complaint and arrest affidavit docketed in Pinellas County Circuit Court on April 10 and later made available for viewing online.
Police submitted the handprint to Automated Fingerprint Identification System, known as AFIS, which returned a potential match, according the affidavit. It states that two latent print examiners then identified the handprint as that of Darling, who has a lengthy prior record, according to court records.
Defendant remains in prison following initial hearing
Darling is charged with second-degree murder as a first-degree felony. Second-degree murder in Florida pertains to an unpremeditated killing with a "depraved mind" — similar to third-degree murder in Pennsylvania, which pertains to an unpremeditated killing with malice.
Arrest made: Police charge man with murder in fatal stabbing of Erie native in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Darling remains in the Pinellas County Jail with no bond set, according to the criminal complaint and affidavit and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. A judge held a hearing on April 10 to advise Darling of his rights and to appoint a public defender to represent him.
In announcing Darling's arrest on April 9, St. Petersburg police said Darling and Pustelak knew each other, and that the two "had an argument that led to the murder." No information on a motive has been released.
Death reported: Police open homicide probe after Erie native, 49, found dead in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Pustelak, police said, was found dead from multiple stab wounds shortly before 7:40 p.m. on April 1 inside his unit in the Marisol Vista Apartments, in the 10000 block of 11th Street North. Police said the officers were responding to a "check welfare" call from Pustelak's girlfriend, who was out of town and was concerned because she had been unable to contact him.
Pustelak had just taken a new job in Florida
Pustelak, whose family is from Girard, moved from the Erie area to Florida in 2023, according to his obituary. When he was in Erie, he was a project manager at the family business, Pustelak Masonry, in the 9000 block of Peach Street in Summit Township. It stopped operating in 2010.
Timothy Pustelak went on to work as a vice president at Spiral Stairs of America, in Erie, from 2019 to May 2022, before he took a job in Florida in November 2022, according to his obituary.
Pustelak started a new job in March as director of sales at redbox+Dumpsters Suncoast, a waste-management company in Clearwater, north of St. Petersburg.
Pustelak, a father of three, went into sales "because of his high energy, enthusiasm, over-the-top personality and persuasiveness," according to his obituary. "Moving to Florida last year was to be a fresh start," the obituary also said.
Pustelak's funeral was on Saturday. It was held at the Edder Funeral Home in Girard.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Police say bloody handprint key clue in murder of Erie PA native in FL
