FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two 22-year-olds are facing first-degree murder charges in connection to an August shooting in Fort Lauderdale’s Melrose Park neighborhood, according to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday.
Police said the accused gunman was upset that the victim had stolen his gun in July and said the victim’s own cousin would later turn on him. They said family members tried in vain to pay $800 to keep the victim from being killed.
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Authorities arrested the accused gunman, Vershawn Williamceau, of Lauderhill, on Aug. 26.
Police arrested the victim’s cousin and Williamceau’s friend and alleged accomplice in the case, Jahmar Ellis, of Fort Lauderdale, on Thursday. He appeared in Broward County court on Friday.
According to an arrest warrant, the Aug. 19 shooting happened just after 11:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Iowa Avenue. The victim, whose name was redacted from the warrant, was later pronounced dead at Broward Health Medical Center.
The victim’s father told police he saw Williamceau, whom he recognized, walk up to his son and yell “Where’s my s---?” and before the victim could answer, Williamceau started shooting, police said.
Police said another family member later told investigators Wiliamceau was mad that the victim had stolen his gun after the three men hung out on July 29. Williamceau told her it was “not about the gun but the principle of the matter,” the warrant states.
That family member even offered to pay for the gun if it meant Williamceau wouldn’t kill the victim and he declined the money, police said. She told investigators that Ellis was “favoring Vershawn more than his own blood cousin,” according to the warrant.
The victim’s mother told police that she had been receiving text messages from Ellis, her nephew, threatening to kill her son, the warrant states.
Police said those texts included statements like “If family finna die today f--- it,” “Pick your side dig your own grave” and “Your son took from my blood brother if u think we letting that slide u high asf (as f---).”
The warrant states that before the murder, the victim’s family paid Williamceau $800, “whatever (it) took to keep (the victim) from getting killed.”
Police said they chose to charge Ellis with the crime along with Williamceau because he made threats and provided information to Williamceau about the victim’s whereabouts “during critical events leading up to the homicide,” making him an accomplice.
Williamceau is set to appear in court next on Oct. 6. A judge found probable cause for charges against Ellis Friday but has not yet set a future court date, according to court records.
Both men remained held without bond in the Broward County Main Jail as of Tuesday evening.
First-degree murder convictions are punishable either by life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.