TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Palmetto Teen Slain In His Bedroom

ADVERTISEMENT

By HALLE STOCKTON

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 28, 2009

MANATEE COUNTY - Police are looking for two people who broke into a Palmetto boarding home early this morning and shot dead a teenager who was in his bedroom.

Authorities say Tevin Yawn, 18, was shot multiple times in the attack, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m. in the eight-room boarding home in the 2300 block of Fifth Avenue Drive East.

Yawn's murder comes just two months after his older brother was shot in the stomach Christmas morning and found two blocks away from the same boarding home.

Yawn's mother and another brother heard the gunshots and tried to take Yawn to the hospital, said Dave Bristow, Manatee County sheriff's spokesman. Paramedics arrived first and pronounced Yawn dead.

Investigators think two people entered the home through a rear door and shot Yawn in his bedroom. No one witnessed the shooting, but two people were seen fleeing the area, Bristow said.

Detectives have "decent" leads in the fatal shooting, Bristow said, but the motive is unclear.

"There are several things we're looking at right now," he said. "We're just putting some pieces together."

Bristow said investigators have not ruled out a connection with the Christmas shooting of Yawn's brother and are also probing a shooting incident that occurred in Bradenton late last night.

No arrest has been reported in the Dec. 25 shooting of Glover Yawn Jr., 21. Bystanders found Yawn Jr. in the street two blocks away from the Palmetto boarding home around 3:30 a.m. Christmas day, according to Sheriff's reports.

Yawn Jr. survived the shooting.

Glover Yawn Jr. was released from Avon Park Work Camp in November 2008 after serving nearly four months on a felony battery conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

Investigators have been interviewing the family and other boarding home residents to gain information about Tevin Yawn's recent activity and acquaintances, Bristow said.

No arrests had been made by 1 p.m. this afternoon.

Anyone with information on the shooting may call the sheriff's office at 747-3011, Ext. 2159, or CrimeStoppers at 866-634-8477.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT