A Fort Myers man was found guilty Wednesday afternoon in a 2018 plot to lure and rob a victim who ended up dead in a hospital.
Taquan Ramel Brown, 32, was found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and conspiracy after an eight-day trial in Lee County. Brown was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury on July 20, 2018.
The crime happened on Sunday, May 13, 2018. Just after 2 a.m., Fort Myers police officers arrived at the scene of a shooting off Marsh Avenue. A victim, who had been beaten and shot, was lying in the street. He died less than an hour later at a nearby hospital.
Detectives with the Fort Myers Police Department found evidence of a conspiracy to target the victim and lure him to that location so he could be robbed. The victim had $60 stolen from him before being murdered. He had a friend with him at the time of the robbery who was shot at, but he was able to run away and get help. The U.S. Marshals Task Force and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office assisted in this case as search warrants were served.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31. Three co-defendants, Mario Joel Benitez, Edey Emmanuel Cardenas, and Cheyenne Nicole Marron, have already been sentenced for their roles in the crime.
WINK News