Deaths tragic chapter in sad Brandon family history

The brothers lived in a modest house on a quiet, U-shaped street.

So when their father rolled his wheelchair into the front yard and angrily shouted for his sons, Benna and Micah Rogers, to come home, every child on the block heard it.

"He was always screaming," said Amanda Metzgar, who grew up on the same street in Brandon with the Rogers brothers.

Their father liked to drink and was verbally abusive, Metzgar said. Their mother left the boys when they were young.

"They were born to people who didn't want them and didn't take care of them," Metzgar said. "I hate to say it, but it's like they never had a chance."

Trouble seemed to always linger over the household at 517 Larry Circle South. The brothers frequently ran afoul of the law as teens and racked up long criminal records as adults.

Then, on Valentine's Day, Micah Rogers, 31, wheeled a motorized scooter into a bedroom and left it running, Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives said. A relative found Rogers' body and medical examiners later ruled that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Family members returned to the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on Monday to pick up belongings and clean the property.

Again, relatives made another grisly discovery.

There was a sealed garbage can in the backyard. Inside were severely decomposed human remains. Through fingerprints, detectives on Tuesday identified the body as 33-year-old Benna Rogers.

He had been missing for about four months but family members did not report his absence, Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said. Medical examiners are trying to determine the time and cause of death.

The brothers' mother, Debbie Cook, declined to comment Tuesday. Their father, Benjamin Franklin Rogers, died two years ago.

The house remained an active crime scene Tuesday. Yellow crime tape surrounded the property and detectives continued to scour the home for clues. Plain-clothes deputies talked to neighbors and searched the backyard where Benna Rogers' body was found.

Deputies have responded to calls at the Rogers' home 16 times since 2006. Three calls were for domestic disturbances. Six visits were warrant arrests. The last two, recorded Feb. 14 and on Monday, are labeled "suicide" and "death investigation."

One neighbor talked to Micah Rogers a few days before his death, Metzgar said. Micah Rogers was despondent and told the neighbor he and his brother were arguing.

Benna Rogers wanted to sell their childhood home, Metzgar said. Micah Rogers, who became the owner of the home in 2006, wanted to keep it.

Metzgar said the brothers grew up without the simple luxuries afforded to other children.

"They never had new clothes," she said. "They never had anything clean."

They rebelled as teenagers.

"I remember watching some unknown change take Benna first," Metzgar said.

His first arrest was in 1995 on a forgery charge. At the time, he was 17. Later, he would be arrested on charges of burglary, shoplifting, heroin possession, fraud and theft.

Micah Rogers, whom the neighborhood kids called "Bucky," began to change in 2000, when he was first arrested on a larceny charge. His arrest record includes charges of DUI with property damage, marijuana and heroin possession and fraud.

In 2003, the brothers were both accused and charged for the same crime: stealing more than 500 DVDs and video games from Blockbuster video stores in Brandon. Micah Rogers was a manager at one of the stores and knew security procedures, deputies said.

The brothers, along with an accomplice, would sell the stolen videos and games to pawnshops and use the money to buy heroin, deputies said.

"With Benna, the light in his eyes went out a long time ago," Metzgar said. "But Micah was still sweet, but sad. They were no angels, but they went through hell."