Police ID Fort Pierce homicide victim as 51-year-old Emmanuel Preston Knight

Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read

FORT PIERCE – Police Tuesday identified a 51-year-old man who died a day earlier in a homicide incident as Emmanuel Preston Knight, though few other details were released.

Police were called at 11:49 a.m. Monday to the incident in the 600 block of South 12th Street, police spokesperson Larry Croom has said. The case apparently began as a call for police to respond to a disturbance in progress, but Croom stated the incident is a homicide.

Officers found a 51-year-old man identified as Knight with a gunshot wound. He was taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, and died mid-afternoon Monday, Croom said.

Fort Pierce Police were called May 15, 2023, to an address in the 600 block of South 12th Street for a disturbance in progress call. A man was found with a gunshot wound. He died the same day. Images from the area taken May 16, 2023.
Fort Pierce Police were called May 15, 2023, to an address in the 600 block of South 12th Street for a disturbance in progress call. A man was found with a gunshot wound. He died the same day. Images from the area taken May 16, 2023.

Croom Tuesday said the man had been in a wheelchair. Police did not say whether an arrest has been made.

What appeared to be yellow police tape hung from two blue plastic bins in front of a single-story, blue-and-white home on the east side of the 600 block of South 12th Street. No one came to the door there Tuesday.

Yellow tape divided the home from one to the south, and also was present in the back yard.

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At one home to the north, Tilvin Harris Sr., 41, pedaled up on a bicycle. He sat on a chair in the back, eating from a container of mangoes.

“I just heard a gunshot, like bow,” Harris said.

He said he was in his room in bed at the back of the house. Harris identified Knight before police released the name publicly about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Harris, who said he’s lived there about 18 months, said a person came from the front of the home to tell him someone got shot.

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He said he heard arguing but said he was taught to mind his business.

Neighbor Charles Johnson, 58, said he was at work at the time.

Johnson described the neighborhood as peaceful and quiet.

“It shocked me that it happened,” Johnson said. “I came from work and I seen the yellow tape.”

Other neighbors either declined comment or didn’t come to their doors.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Kevin Mohamed at 772-467-6905 or 772-979-1451 or kmohamed@fppd.org

Information also can be supplied via Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273-TIPS.

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Man dead in homicide in Fort Pierce ID'd by police