Local News

FT. MYERS, Florida (CBS4) ― Three of the four arrested suspects in Sean Taylor's murder case were transferred to a jail in Miami-Dade County Monday night.

Cameras captured video of some of these suspects arriving in jail. One of the suspects is in a juvenile facility in Ft. Myers and is expected to be transferred to a juvenile detention in Miami. Police are looking for a fifth suspect in the case, according to a lawyer for one of the first four suspects who were arrested on Friday.

Jason Mitchell's attorney told CBS4 News Partner The Miami Herald that police are looking for a fifth suspect in the burglary murder case of the Washington Redskins safety that occurred last week. However, the report does not have the name of the suspect they are looking for.

Sunday, Mitchell was denied bond in a morning court appearance. The 19-year old suspect responded quietly when asked by the judge if he understood the charges. The three other men charged in the Taylor case, 17-year old Eric Rivera, 18-year old Charles Wardlow and 20-year old Venjah Hunte were also denied bond during their court appearance Saturday.

All four have been charged with unpremeditated murder, home invasion with a firearm or another deadly weapon and armed burglary. They are expected to be extradited to Miami week.

CBS4's David Sutta reported from Ft. Myers court Saturday morning the first suspect to appear before Judge Hugh Starnes, was 17-year-old Eric Rivera who allegedly confessed to the crimes.

Wilbur Smith, the attorney representing Rivera, said Saturday he expected a speedy resolution.

"There is not doubt that you are going to detain him," said Smith. "My take on this case is there is going to be a speedy resolution to it. This is not going to be one of those dragged out dramas."

Smith said while some media reports have pegged his client as the one who pulled the trigger, he had not yet spoken extensively with the suspect to determine if that's true. He said his client was remorseful.

"It's an indescribable tragedy for the Taylor family, and it's a tragedy for the families of these other young men because their lives are down the tube," Smith said.

John Evans, the attorney representing Wardlow, said he had not heard if the murder weapon was found.

The four suspects all have prior arrests, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office records: Wardlow, 18, was arrested twice for selling marijuana and once for grand theft of a vehicle. Rivera, 17, has been arrested in October for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine, and he previously was behind bars for altering the identification number on a firearm. Hunte, 20, was arrested previously this year on drug and trespassing charges. And Mitchell, 19, had been arrested twice, most recently in October on charges of driving with a suspended license and violation of probation.

Ironically, Wardlow's father, Vince, is just a few cells away in the jail, facing criminal charges for a Ft. Myers murder in 2006.
The arrests were announced by Miami-Dade Police Director Bobby Parker. The four males were arrested in the Ft. Myers area with the help of several agencies, including the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The ages of the suspects range from 17 to 20.

CBS4's Peter D'Oench first learned that the Miami-Dade police department sent two detectives to the Cape Coral area near Ft. Myers earlier in the day. These detectives were joined by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after a raid was conducted on a home there.

The four suspects questioned and then officially arrested:
Venjah K Hunte, 20-years-old
Jason Scott Mitchell, 19-years-old
Eric Rivera Jr., 17-years-old
Charles Kendrick Wardlow, 18-years-old

"You're charged with murder," said Starnes.

Parker once more reiterated that this was a random incident and not a planned hit. The men involved, he says, thought they were stealing from an unoccupied home in Palmetto Bay, but when they were discovered by Taylor, one of them shot him in the leg, causing his death.
"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," Parker said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied, so murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive."
According to police the four of them got into an awaiting car and fled the scene of the crime. They believe they are the same suspects who had broken into the home earlier in the month, without being discovered.

Taylor's teammates and friends were measured in responding to the developments.

"Everybody wants to know why. It's still not gonna bring back Sean. It will still take a great guy away from the world," said running back Clinton Portis.

Said receiver Santana Moss: "If those are the guys, I just hope that they'll just be dealt with properly. I feel there's nothing much I can say about it. It's no anger I can express to them. What's done is done."

Taylor and longtime girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened by loud noises at Taylor's home in an affluent Miami suburb early Monday morning, Sharpstein said. Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection, Sharpstein said, then someone broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor in the upper leg. Neither the couple's 18-month-old daughter, also named Jackie, nor Garcia were injured in the attack.

The bullet damaged the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, causing significant blood loss. Taylor never regained consciousness and died a little more than 24 hours later at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

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