Teen accused of murdering 73-year-old

Authorities say the woman let him into her mobile home, where he raped and killed her.

By SUSAN THURSTON and JOSH ZIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 12, 2002

It would be her last act of kindness.

Police said the young man beat, raped and strangled Mrs. Erwin, 73, then cut her throat. Her body was discovered by her husband, Roy, about 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the couple's mobile home on Sussex Drive in Town 'N Country.

Sheriff's detectives immediately questioned neighbors, and on Friday arrested 15-year-old Michael Gonzalez after he changed his story during questioning, sheriff's Col. David Gee said. Gonzalez was charged with first-degree murder, sexual battery and burglary, and taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center, where he was being held without bail.

Gee said Gonzalez was staying with his sister and her husband a few doors from the Erwins and knew the couple. When Mr. Erwin left the house Thursday for a trip to the Tampa Bay Downs race track, about 11:50 a.m., Gonzalez made his move, Gee said.

Gonzalez tried to sneak inside but was confronted by Mrs. Erwin on the patio. When she asked what he was doing, he made up a story that he was ill and needed to use the phone, Gee said.

Mrs. Erwin let him in and he pretended to make a call, then pulled a knife, Gee said.

Detectives believe Gonzalez broke into the couple's empty home several days earlier and stole something officials would not identify Friday.

Without any signs of a forced entry Thursday, and with no valuables missing, the case initially baffled neighbors and detectives, who spent Thursday and most of Friday interviewing people in the area.

"We just don't expect 73-year-old ladies to be raped in their house and have their throats cut," Gee said.

Gonzalez has a criminal record that includes arrests for burglary and assault dating to 1998. He was wanted by Pinellas County authorities as a "dependent child on the run," Gee said. He does not attend school, and authorities were unable Friday to find his parents.

Married for 55 years, the Erwins were snowbirds from Indiana who spend the winters at the mobile home in Town 'N Country. The couple have three daughters and several grandchildren.

At a news conference Friday evening, Mrs. Erwin's daughter, Cheryl Weaver, tearfully thanked authorities. The grandchildren described Mrs. Erwin as a friendly and energetic woman.

"Grandma was a wonderful, 73-year-old delightful person," 28-year-old grandson Allen Bell said. "She'd wear you out chasing the grandchildren around. Nicest person in the world. None of this needed to happen. If they wanted something, all they had to do was ask."

Neighbors also wondered how such violence could strike their quiet community.

"It scared the hell out of me," said Halmer Warren, who lives across from the Erwins.

- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com.

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