A 23-year-old man who initially told Brevard sheriff’s investigators that his girlfriend was shot repeatedly — and accidentally — by an AR-style pistol after he tripped has been indicted by a Brevard grand jury.
Tyjah John Bellinger faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the Nov. 16 shooting death of 28-year-old Lendzi Lakeman of Port St. John at a home in the 7100 block of Carlowe Avenue.
Brevard sheriff’s investigators said the pair were in a relationship and had been arguing over Christmas presents for his daughter from another woman. Bellinger, police said, told investigators that Lakeman was carrying his unborn child.
In a release detailing the Dec. 10 indictment, the state attorney’s office said a 911 caller reported hearing three shots and then seeing Bellinger fire more shots inside the house’s open garage before watching the shooter drive off in a blue Kia. Investigators said Bellinger fired a weapon 12 times, leaving shell casings in the garage and on the driveway.
Bellinger then fled the home and went to a relative’s home in Port St. John, where he was later taken into custody and where the firearm was found in Bellinger’s car.
Deputies found Lakeman’s body, with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, inside the entrance to the garage.
He remains held without bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard man, 23, indicted for first-degree murder in girlfriend’s death
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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