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Suspect charged in deadly drive-by shooting
A suspect has been federally charged in connection with a 2020 Christmas Eve drive-by shooting that killed a Lakeland grandmother and injured three others.
LAKELAND, Fla. - A suspect who is currently incarcerated on state charges has been charged federally in connection with a shooting on Christmas Eve 2020 that killed a Lakeland grandmother and injured three others.
Taqiy Lewis has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the deadly drive-by shooting.
Deadly Christmas Eve shooting
The backstory:
In a previous interview with FOX 13, Shawanda Lamones said her teenage son went to Simpson Park on Christmas Eve 2020 to buy an iPhone and was held up at gunpoint.
According to U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg, there were four people involved in the robbery, and one reached into the teen’s pocket to steal $220 in cash.
Afterward, a fight broke out between the teen and a member of the group.
When a member of the group wanted to see the teen fight again, Handberg said he called his mother to pick him up.
When the Lamones arrived at the park with her husband, the teen pointed to the person who stole his money and told his parents that someone in the group had pointed a gun at him.
Lamones’ husband, according to Handberg, got a gun from his vehicle and tried to confront the person in the group who was believed to have a gun.
That’s when Handberg said Lamones wrestled with the person and his gun fell to the ground.
The teen picked up the gun, gave it to his father, and the three of them drove home.
"My son begins to tell me, he is part of a gang, and they’re going to try to come back to get revenge," Lamones recounted in a previous interview with FOX 13.
Shawanda Lamones, her husband and 13-year-old daughter were injured in the shooting.
Moments after they got home, Maebelle Cooper, Lamone's 70-year-old mother, showed up at the house with plans to make gingerbread houses.
That’s when officials said a white Buick sedan and a black Ford Edge SUV and a 4-wheeler showed up at the Lamones’ home.
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The occupants of the vehicles got out and confronted Lamones and her 13-year-old daughter and that’s when gunfire erupted.
Lamones, her 13-year-old daughter, her husband and her mother were shot. Cooper died from her injuries.
"There is that big hole there, knowing that you can’t call her. She can’t call you. You can’t spend time with her," Cooper’s other daughter, Katrina McClain, told FOX 13 News.
Maebelle Cooper was killed in a drive-by shooting on Christmas Eve 2020.
Deadly drive-by shooting investigation
What we know:
A little less than three years later, there was a drive-by shooting in Lakeland that injured 11 people.
While executing a search warrant at a Polk County home, ATF agents and officers with the Lakeland Police Department found five guns, including a Kahr CM9 9mm pistol.
FDLE looked at that gun and discovered that 6 shell casings that were found at Cooper’s death matched that gun.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said in addition to scientific evidence indicating that Lewis was holding that gun when Cooper was killed, Lewis was seen on social media posing with the gun before and after the deadly shooting.
What we don't know:
Police did not say if Lewis was present during the February 2023 drive-by shooting that injured 11 people, but Chief Taylor said even if he wasn’t there in person, he was involved in that mass shooting.
What they're saying:
"He has been identified as the person who killed Mae Cooper and he will be held to answer for his crimes," Handberg stated. "He will get his day in court."
"This is not CSI," Taylor explained. "It doesn’t happen in 30 minutes. We don’t get DNA hits in 10 or 15 minutes. Those things take days and weeks and months and, in this case, years."
Criminal history
According to arrest records, Lewis's previous charges in Polk County include assault on a law enforcement officer, making a false report to a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, trafficking in cocaine, and possession of drug paraphernalia, among other things.
He is currently in state prison on unrelated charges. Lewis was expected to be released in early 2026, but these new federal charges will likely prevent him from being released.
What's next:
Lewis will be taken into federal custody in the near future.
Kirk Howard, ATF special agent in charge with Tampa's field division, said it is too soon to tel if there will be more arrests and added that charging Lewis is just the first step.
Law enforcement officials are still following up on leads and Handberg vowed to hold everyone involved in the deadly Christmas Eve shooting accountable.
What's next:
If convicted, Lewis faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the Lakeland Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms & Explosives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and previous FOX 13 News reports.
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