Alleged Gunman Held in Fatal Fla. Car Shooting
An arrest was made today in the fatal shooting that occurred on a Florida highway Saturday afternoon while the victim was on the phone with 911.
Jerome Hayes, 48, turned himself in to authorities this morning after police identified him, using nearby surveillance cameras. He is being charged with first degree murder.
The victim, 47-year-old Fred William Turner Jr. of Orlando Fla., called 911 from I-4 to report a vehicle that had been following him from a nearby store. Hayes then reportedly drove beside Turner's vehicle and flashed a gun. When police arrived to the scene, Turner's body was found in his car on the side of the road with three fatal bullet wounds. The shoot had fled the scene.
It was originally suspected that this was a result of road rage but Col. Donna Lusczynski stated during a press conference on Monday that it rather was a "case of mistaken identity and being in the wrong place in the wrong time."
Jerome Hayes is charged with first degree murder in connection to a Florida highway shooting on Saturday
Hayes and an unidentified male allegedly got into an altercation with a male patron at a nearby bar that afternoon. After being ejected from that bar, Hayes and the other man proceeded to wait in the parking lot for that patron to come out, according to police. They mistook Turner for the other man when he exited a nearby sex store and continued to pursue him onto I-4, where Turner noticed and called the authorities.
Authorities now have in possession the weapon Hayes is believed to have used, as well as his vehicle, a silver Taurus which matches the description released to the public over the weekend. They have also been in contact with the unidentified male, who was the passenger in Hayes's car at the time of the shooting. Lusczynski says that he can face a variety of charges depending "on his actual involvement and his statement."
Hayes is being held at Orient Road Jail without bond. It was unclear if he has retained a lawyer.