Trial in shooting over dirt bike pushed back to May as attorney focuses on health
A teenager is expected to go to trial in early May in connection to a 2019 shooting that wounded a then 17-year-old classmate and left a 21-year-old man dead.
Darion Lee, 19, is charged with murder in the second degree with a firearm and attempted murder in the first degree with a firearm, according to court records. Both are life felonies.
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What happened in November 2019?
Lee, who was 16 at the time, was arrested in November 2019 after he turned himself in following a shooting. An affidavit in the case states the shooting was over an ongoing dispute over a dirt bike between Lee and his classmate, both students at Triad Sarasota alternative school.
The classmate told investigators Lee believed he had stolen a dirt bike.
When police arrived on the scene, two victims were on the ground near a large pool of blood, reports stated at the time. Le’Quavious Claridy, 21, identified Lee as the shooter, and both victims were taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
Lee was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder, but Claridy died from his injuries.
Previous reporting by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune found that a teacher, Vivian Heggs, had overheard the threats three days prior to the shooting, but did not report it until after the incident. At the time, Lee was suspended from school for two days because he wouldn’t calm down.
How has the case progressed
On Aug. 15, 2022, Assistant State Attorney Kennedy Legler filed a motion to use similar fact evidence, which is used to establish a pattern of past behavior or misconduct of the accused.
Among some of the evidence the state wanted to introduce included a series of photos and videos police found on Lee’s phone dating a few months prior to the shooting and a May 2019 incident where Lee was accused of threatening to shoot two bystanders who told him to slow down as he was driving. The victims picked Lee out of a photo lineup and described the firearm to police, according to the document.
In response, Lee’s defense said the state’s notices to introduce similar fact evidence and offer inextricably intertwined evidence to the charged offense was “an affront to Mr. Lee’s 6th Amendment right of confrontation, his myriad rights consistent with due process, and his overarching right to a fair trial.”
What’s next in the case
A jury trial was expected to take place in February, however, the trial date was pushed back until early May due to one of Lee’s attorney’s experiencing ongoing health issues.
The extension would allow the attorney enough time to recuperate and feel the "full benefit of her surgeries" so that she can continue to provide Lee with effective representation.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota trial for fatal shooting over dirt bike dispute pushed to May
