Police in Clearwater, Florida, arrested a suspect after a man was killed while cycling in the area on Friday.
Jermaine Adrian Bennett faces first-degree murder charges after reportedly confessing to attacking Jeffrey Chapman, 49, and beating him repeatedly with a tire iron, Fox 13 reported Saturday.
According to Clearwater Deputy Chief Michael Walek, the incident was random and Bennett allegedly told investigators he did it because the “ills of society had gotten to him.”
The department shared an image of Bennett and told followers it was looking for a second suspect in the case:
This is Jermaine Bennett, charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Jeffrey Chapman on Friday on Clearwater…
Posted by Clearwater Police Department on Saturday, October 22, 2022
Investigators reportedly used surveillance video and tips to connect Bennett and his car to the incident.
The second suspect was described as a slender man standing approximately six feet and two inches tall and Walek urged that person to turn himself in to authorities.
It was unclear why the suspects were in the area before they eventually encountered the victim.
During a press conference on Friday, Walek told a reporter, “This is the northern portion of Clearwater Beach. Very quiet. Mostly residential. A crime like this is very rare, but we are using every investigative method that we have to follow up on this.”
UPDATE: The victim has been identified as Jeffrey M. Chapman, 49, of Clearwater Beach.Here's the latest on the homicide investigation from Mandalay Avenue. Detectives are working diligently to identify the victim and the suspects in the case. We believe there were at least two suspects involved who were in a black four-door sedan. Anyone with information should call us at 727-562-4242.
Posted by Clearwater Police Department on Friday, October 21, 2022
A similar incident happened an hour before in St. Petersburg but the victim was not killed. Now, officials are trying to determine if there was a connection with both incidents.
Authorities are holding Bennett at the Pasco County Jail until his extradition to Pinellas County, the Fox article said.
“I don’t think anybody’s really processed it yet. You know, we’re still trying to process what happened because we don’t understand it. We don’t understand why. Why did this happen?” a friend of Chapman’s told the outlet:
“The ‘ills of society’ the police chief mentioned. I mean it wasn’t him. He wasn’t the ‘ills of society.’ Far from it. He was the opposite. He tried to help people,” she continued.
A mid-year survey found violent crime across cities in President Joe Biden’s (D) America rose by over four percent during the first six months of this year, Breitbart News reported in September.
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