GPS-monitoring device links 19-year-old suspect to deadly Clearwater drive-by shooting
Via CPD
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Police in Clearwater say they’ve identified and arrested the "chronic offender" who shot four people last week, killing one of them.
Derriontae Ward faces a charge of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder for the drive-by shooting on March 8.
The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 19 near Drew Street. Clearwater police said a vehicle pulled alongside the victims’ car, and that’s when Ward fired more than two dozen times into the car.
One of the shooting victims, 18-year-old Ivon Cobbs, was flown to the hospital but later passed away. Another occupant, a 30-year-old, was in critical condition at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. A third victim, a 24-year-old, was in serious condition, while and the fourth, also 24 years old, was expected to be OK.
Detectives said they believe the victims were targeted.
The victims' vehicle. Via CPD.
Police say Ward, 19, has been arrested 37 times, though no arrests as an adult were listed in the Pinellas County records.
At the time of the shooting, they say he was out on bond from multiple previous criminal cases, including aggravated assault with a firearm, grand theft auto, burglary and leaving the scene of a crash with injury.
While out on bond, Ward was wearing a GPS-enabled ankle device. Investigators say that device showed that he was at the same restaurant as the victims before the shooting; it also placed him at the scene of the shooting.
Ward allegedly cut off the ankle device the day after the shooting. He was arrested as a relative's home Wednesday.