Community Corner

2 Arrested in Land O' Lakes Shooting Death

Pasco County deputies say last night's shooting was premeditated.

Two men have been charged in connection with last night’s shooting at the in Land O’ Lakes.

The shooting took place just before 11 p.m. last night, Aug. 27, at 4511 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. According to a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office press release, detectives in the case believe the shooting of Kenneth Myron Staley, 25, was premeditated.

Deputies say Timothy Michael Reed, 31, shot Staley four times with a .38 caliber revolver in the motel’s front yard. Following his arrest, Reed admitted to shooting Staley and told Detective Lisa Schoneman that he shot the victim “as many times as the gun would fire,” the release said.

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Schoneman’s investigation says there is a link between Reed and Lonnie Gibbs Rogers, 41, of 2009 E. Caracus St. in Tampa. The Pasco detective said that Rogers arranged the shooting, which was related to a “dispute involving drugs and the victim's involvement with a female,” the release said.

Rogers is said to have offered Staley a bus ticket to Texas if he would leave town, but Stanley refused the offer. Rogers also asked a witness to remove any evidence from the crime scene, the release said.

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Rogers and Reed are both charged with first degree murder and were being held at the Land O’ Lakes Jail without bond.

Staley was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital last night, but later died from his wounds.

Staley was serving three years of felony parole for a grand theft charge out of Hillsborough County earlier this year, according to state records.


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