A man wanted in connection with a fatal Davenport shooting was arrested Aug. 14 by Polk County deputies.
Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Angel Gonzalez-Morales, 29, was arrested Aug. 14 near U.S. 27 just north of the county line in the Polor Park area of Davenport. Gonzalez-Morales is in jail and faces second-degree murder charges.
Gonzalez-Morales led Polk deputies on a roughly 48-hour manhunt after fleeing the scene of a fatal shooting at Home Suites, a Davenport hotel near Interstate 4 and U.S. 27, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
With Gonzalez-Morales in custody, there is a $1,000 reward being offered for the weapon, which has yet to be recovered.
“We really, really, really want this firearm,” Judd said. “A gun like that on the street will bring you $200 to $300. We’ll pay you $1,000 to give it to us.”
Judd said deputies learned Gonzalez-Morales had a fight with 32-year-old Elijah Johnson of Davenport several weeks prior to the fatal shooting.
On Aug. 12, deputies responded to the Davenport hotel mid-afternoon for a disturbance that involved Johnson and another individual. Both men alleged a chair was thrown but declined to press charges and signed waivers of prosecution.
An hour later, Judd said deputies were called back to Home Suites. Johnson had been on the second floor of the hotel when he was shot twice, according to Judd, quickly running downstairs into the street in front of the hotel where he collapsed.
“No one witnessed the shooting,” Judd said. “The suspect won’t admit to shooting him [Johnson].”
A witness at the scene saw Gonzalez-Morales jump into a red sedan that took off. Judd said Gonzalez-Morales told the driver he fell down and shot Johnson.
The driver stopped the car and Gonzalez-Morales exited the vehicle and took off into the woods.
Gonzalez-Moralex had 16 grams of fentanyl in his pocket when arrested, Judd said, calling it “baking soda for personal use.” He faces a first-degree felony charge of trafficking in fentanyl that carries a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
There is no surveillance video available of the shooting at Home Suites, Judd said.
Anyone who may have information about the firearm used in the crime should contact Heartland Crime Stoppers one of the four ways:
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Man arrested in fatal Davenport shooting, faces charges of murder and trafficking fentanyl
Reporting by Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
