Social media posts may have prompted deadly Spring Hill home invasion: Sheriff
SPRING HILL, Fla. - Three men are accused of shooting and killing one woman and injuring another during a home invasion in Spring Hill that may have been prompted by social media posts.
Around 4:45 a.m. the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office says it received a 911 call from a home on Marquette Street in Spring Hill about a shooting inside the residence.
Deputies arriving on the scene said they found two women suffering from gunshot wounds. One woman was pronounced dead at the scene by Hernando County Fire and Rescue.
Suspect mugshot courtesy of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
The second gunshot victim had been shot in the legs and first responders say they immediately began life-saving measures and then took her to an area hospital.
According to Hernando County Sheriff Al Neinhaus, there was one other adult and three children under the age of ten inside the home at the time of the shooting.
"It was a pretty horrific event for them." Sheriff Neinhas stated.
Crime scene tape outside a deadly shooting scene in Hernando County.
The sheriff said that the woman who ended up dead had been engaging in a sexual act with a man, later identified as 22-year-old suspect Jazier Martinez. He said law enforcement officers later learned that the sexual act was pre-arranged and in exchange for money.
Sheriff Nienhaus says the pair got into an altercation that escalated quickly. He added that Martinez was trying to rob the woman and during the fight, the second shooting victim and a family member forced their way into the woman’s bedroom.
At the same time, according to HCSO, two other men, whom law enforcement has identified as Dawson Deskins, 20, and Landen Runyon, 19, forced their way inside the home and ultimately into the bedroom. The sheriff says Deskins and Runyon were friends with Martinez and all three had arrived at the home in a white SUV.
Crime scene tape and an investigator at the scene of a deadly home invasion in Spring Hill.
Sheriff Neinhaus said the two victims fought back and the woman who eventually died grabbed a gun.
The sheriff stated that Martinez may have had a gun, but at least one, or both, of the other men who forced their way inside the home were armed.
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According to Sheriff Neinhaus, the suspects and the victim fired shots at each other. He went on to state that Runyon was shot in the face by the victim who ended up dying.
"The detectives said he was almost unrecognizable because of the swelling," the sheriff stated.
Patrol vehicle and crime scene tape outside scene of fatal home inversion.
According to HCSO, Deskins had fled the state and went to a family member's home in Kentucky. When he got the relative's home, the sheriff said the family member took him to the hospital because he had been shot in the stomach.
The sheriff added that most home invasions are not random and this one is not an exception. He said one of the suspects told detectives that the victim was targeted because of some social media posts.
The posts that the sheriff said he believes may have led to the home invasion included photos with large sums of money.
Sheriff Al Neinhaus says one of the suspects told authorities that social media posts with images of large sums of money prompted the home invasion. Images are courtesy of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
"Individuals need to know that what they put on social media can attract criminal activity, particularly when they are involved in a high-risk lifestyle like this or involved in drugs or gambling. They’re going to attract a criminal element, and it is going to result in violence," stated Sheriff Neinhaus.
Martinez has been charged with principle to first-degree murder, principle to attempted murder in the first degree, and possession and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily harm.
Deskins is being charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and shooting at or within or into a building.
Runyon is being charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and shooting at or within or into a building.
The fatal home invasion is still under investigation.
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