Two men held on $1.1M bonds in death of Damari Ali of Lehigh Acres

Stacey Henson, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read

The two men accused of planning a drug deal, then killing the supplier and hiding his body are jailed, each of them on more than $1.1 million bond, jail records indicate.

Cameron Williams, 20, and Dayrion Howard, 18, set up a drug deal with Damari Anthony Ali, 21, all of Lehigh Acres, on May 3, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said at a news conference Wednesday. They met in a rural area near Dominion Avenue South, shot Ali, hid his body in brush, then drove his car eight blocks away.

Cameron Williams, 20, and Dayrion Howard, 18, face second-degree murder charges in the death Damari Anthony Ali, 21, all of Lehigh Acres, on May 3. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said the pair set up a drug deal with Ali on May 3, 2023, and killed him, hiding his body in a field. Ali's body was found May 9, 2023.
Cameron Williams, 20, and Dayrion Howard, 18, face second-degree murder charges in the death Damari Anthony Ali, 21, all of Lehigh Acres, on May 3. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said the pair set up a drug deal with Ali on May 3, 2023, and killed him, hiding his body in a field. Ali's body was found May 9, 2023.

Officers found Ali's body in the field on Tuesday, six days after the slaying and five days after finding his car.

Both men are in Lee County Jail on 14 charges, including unpremeditated murder.

Howard's bond is set at $1.5 million on the murder charge, with the lesser charges totaling $179,000. They include burglary, larceny, fraud and dealing in stolen property.

Williams bond is set at $1 million on the murder charge, with lesser charges totaling $122,250. They include larceny, fraud, burglary, and dealing in stolen property.

Damari Ali
Damari Ali

The jail records indicate they were booked in jail Monday on charges unrelated to the slaying.

In that case, a burglary, court records indicate a Lehigh Acres woman said she found her door open on April 13 and items including a TV, jewelry, vacuum, pressure cooker and a Sony PlayStation 4, and an Apple iPad missing. The arrest affidavit indicates that a location device on the iPad led them to Williams' home.

The investigation led to both men's arrest, with the affidavit saying that Howard admitted to burglary.

"Dayrion admitted breaking into a few homes with Cameron due to needing money and also admitting pawning some of the items at the pawn shops with Cameron," the affidavit includes.

They are due in court on June 5 on the burglary and theft charges and June 12 the murder and stolen property charges. Judge Bruce Kyle is the judge of record on the burglary charges.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lehigh Acres pair accused of murder face million-dollar bonds