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Mystery surrounds death of barber

Clearwater police have no suspects in the shooting of a father who "touched people's lives." They need your help.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published January 8, 2006

CLEARWATER - Some shards of glass. A mangled bullet.

Whoever killed Tommy Gregory left behind few clues.

Officers responded to Pennsylvania Avenue and Lee Street at 7:35 p.m. Dec. 30 and found Gregory's Honda Civic crashed into a tree. He was behind the wheel, bleeding from a bullet wound to his chest.

Gregory, a 34-year-old barber widely-known in North Greenwood, died shortly after arriving at Mease Dunedin Hospital.

"We have no suspects," Clearwater police Detective Laura Spelman said. "We need someone with information to come forward."

Investigators have not determined a motive for the crime or why Gregory was in the area. Nothing was taken from him, so robbery seems unlikely.

Detectives found glass fragments two blocks from the crash site, Spelman said. They have since concluded Gregory was in the car when he was shot through the driver's side. He then drove away and slammed into a tree.

The bullet, however, was so damaged that police have not been able to determine the caliber of the gun used to kill Gregory.

"We need all the help we can get," Spelman said.

Gregory's family and friends say they don't know why anyone would want to kill him. They described him as a father of two girls and a boy, ages 3, 6 and 9, who battled drug addiction, but finally seemed to have gotten the upper hand.

"He had a troubled life, but he was always trying to atone for that," said his mother, Carolina Albanir, who lives in North Brunswick, N.J. "He was always going out of his way for somebody. He was going to be the dad he never had."

Gregory, who was born in Englewood, N.J., came to Clearwater in 1997 and began working as a barber in a shop in Greenwood. Nine months ago, he opened his own shop, A Cut Above The Rest at 2001 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., and toyed with the idea of opening a second for women called High Maintenance.

"That was his dream," said Vicky Stewart, 24, his fiancee. "As a barber, he touched people's lives ... He blessed people. Even with his own issues, he still had it in his heart to help."

Stewart said Gregory's dream wouldn't die: the shop would remain open.

Other questions, however, are harder to answer.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't know who would do this. Everybody loved Tommy."

A service is scheduled today at the Apostolic Church of Jesus at 546 Elm St. in Safety Harbor.

[Last modified January 8, 2006, 00:44:19]