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Teen Accused Of Shooting Girl Driving Him

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By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

CLEARWATER - A Clearwater teenager was arrested early Saturday on charges that he shot a female acquaintance in the head while she was driving, authorities said.

Alexander Page, 16, of 1612 Country Lane West, is charged with one count of attempted murder and was being held at the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

The victim was identified as Deaonna Tarver, 17, of Clearwater. She suffered a life-threatening injury and was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, authorities said.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m. Friday near State Road 580 and North Bay Hills Boulevard in Safety Harbor. A sheriff's office report said it happened this way:

Five teenagers in a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee were traveling from a home in Clearwater to one in Oldsmar. Tarver was driving the Jeep when she began arguing with Page, who was in the back seat. As Tarver turned the Jeep east onto State Road 580 from North Bay Hills Boulevard, Page shot her once in the head at point-blank range.

Sgt. Jim Bordner, a sheriff's office spokesman, said he did not know what they were arguing about.

After the shooting, a passenger brought the slow-moving Jeep to a stop. Page ran from the vehicle and the three remaining teens drove Tarver to Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor. She was transferred to Bayfront Medical Center.

Because Tarver is a minor, Bayfront could not release information about her condition, said Nancy Waite, the hospital's public affairs officer.

Sheriff's detectives found Page about 1:30 a.m. at a friend's home in Pinellas Park. They said they also found the .22-caliber handgun used in the attack, which had been hidden in a backyard shed at a home in Safety Harbor.

Detectives say Page acknowledged firing the gun inside the Jeep. But he provided varying accounts of how the shooting occurred, they said.

Bordner said Tarver and Page were acquaintances but that the other teens in the Jeep were 'mutual friends.' He did not know which school they attended.

No one answered the doors at the homes of Tarver and Page on Saturday afternoon. They live less than a half-mile from each other.

Bordner said he did not know where Page got the handgun or whether the other people in the Jeep were aware he had the weapon.

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at cmoncada@tampatrib.com or (727) 451-2333.

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