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Orlando Man Jailed In Slaying

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By JOSH POLTILOVE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2007

TAMPA - Kenny Love Washington came to Tampa this month for a new start after a stint in prison.

Hours after arriving in town, he was found stabbed to death.

Wednesday morning, an Orlando man was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing.

A second suspect remains at large.

Washington was stabbed multiple times Oct. 11 or 12 in a building just north of Ybor City, according to an arrest affidavit. He had been staying at the building about seven hours when he was found dead.

Devon LaVelle Batiste, 26, of Orlando, was being held without bail at Orient Road Jail on Wednesday. He also is charged with felony attempted robbery.

Lamar Coffey, 24, is a co-defendant and remains at large, Batiste's arrest affidavit states. Coffey and Washington were roommates a week before the slaying.

When Coffey and Batiste arrived at a church about 11 p.m. Oct. 11, Coffey had a severe cut to his right index finger and Batiste had two bite marks on his right hand, an arrest affidavit states. They said they were injured in a fight, according to the affidavit.

A witness said Batiste told him he was bitten while attempting a robbery, the affidavit states.

Washington's friend allowed him to sleep on a sofa in a two-story mixed-use building Oct. 11, trying to help the former inmate turn his life around.

'I don't know if he invited someone in or what,' the friend, Harold Jones, said this month. 'We grew up together, and he called me up when he got out of jail. If you have a friend and you know they've been in trouble, reading the Bible and trying to get it together, you're gonna help them, not push them out in the street. That's what I was doing.'

Public records show Washington, 43, was on community supervision until 2010 for felony driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Washington has been in and out of state prisons since 1984. His convictions include a Seminole County second-degree attempted murder charge and charges in Orange County, including felony battery, aggravated assault with a weapon and felony cocaine possession.

Batiste was found guilty in 2002 of obstruction without violence and in 2004 was found guilty of carrying a concealed weapon.

Coffey doesn't have a criminal record in Florida, records show.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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