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21-Year-Old Shot, Killed

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By LISA A. DAVIS ldavis@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

SHADY HILLS - Just down the road from the mobile home where the body of a 21-year-old still lay late Thursday morning, more than a dozen relatives and friends gathered beyond the yellow crime scene tape waiting for answers, looking for comfort and processing what had happened.

Cory Lynn Evans, 21, was fatally shot at his cousin's home, 18236 Oxenham Ave., just before 5 a.m.

Another cousin, Kenneth Sheridan Evans, 25, of Shady Hills, was taken to an undisclosed hospital with a gunshot wound, sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll said. Doll did not know his condition.

A third person was shot, but Doll declined to provide his name, saying the man might be a suspect.

"There may be more suspects," Doll said.

Detectives have released no information on a possible motive or the specifics about the weapons used.

Cory Evans' mother, Donna, said she thinks the shooting was about drugs and money.

Relatives say the young man, the third of seven children, was trying to get his life back on track and was not a bad person.

"He is a good person," said his sister Tasha Evans, 23, as she stood down the street from the crime scene. "He got caught in the wrong situation with the wrong people"

She tried to smile when talking about her little brother but her mouth couldn't seem to get there.

"He liked to make people laugh," she said. "He was a comedian."

She ran her hands through her long, black hair and looked around.

"I just can't process this," she said turning away.

Other family members milled nearby, occasionally asking deputies and victims advocates for help and information.

"He was a good person. He worked hard and had a good heart," said Duane Young, 42, Evans' maternal uncle. "He didn't have a violent bone in his body.

"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't deserve to get shot in the head."

At 10:50 a.m., a large sport utility vehicle from the medical examiner's office arrived on Oxenham Avenue.

Deputies lifted the yellow crime scene tape to allow the vehicle through.

Just before that, Young spoke fondly about his nephew and angrily about how he died.

"He wasn't no bully dude or nothing like that. He was 21 years old," he said. "He had his whole life ahead of him."

He choked up, walked away for a moment and leaned on a nearby fence before returning.

"He'll be missed severely."

Just before 11 a.m. a man sped up the road, stopped behind a cruiser, and jumped out of a black Dodge Ram with a black handgun that he took to deputies. One deputy radioed to someone and ran to the crime scene with the gun.

"We're not commenting on that," Doll said about the gun.

WFLA reporter Chip Osowski contributed to this report. Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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