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Man charged in death of woman in yard

Deputies think that within two days, the suspect shot a man buying drugs and killed the woman whose body was found by a resident on 134th Avenue.

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published March 31, 2006

LARGO - Sheriff's deputies arrested a 21-year-old man Wednesday and accused him of the attempted murder of a man during a drug-related incident last week and the murder of a woman found dead next to a trash pile in a yard a day later.

Derek James Graham was pulled over by sheriff's detectives and patrol deputies around 1 p.m. at the intersection of Ulmerton Road and 66th Street in Largo, according to authorities.

Graham, who lives in an unincorporated area near Largo, was wanted on an attempted murder warrant obtained by the Largo Police Department, said sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner. He also was a suspect in the murder being investigated by the Sheriff's Office.

Graham was initially booked into the Pinellas County Jail in connection with the attempted murder of Luis Manuel Guevara, 40, who was shot in the stomach in the early morning of March 21.

Later, Graham was charged in the murder of 43-year-old Polly Davis Laurenzo of Seminole.

Laurenzo's body was found the morning of March 22 by a man who had just moved into a house in the 1600 block of 134th Avenue in Largo.

Bordner said investigators identified Graham as the suspect and developed probable cause for his arrest through witness statements.

Further details on how Laurenzo was killed and the circumstances surrounding the crime were not available Thursday.

After the March 21 shooting, Guevara was hospitalized at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he was interviewed by Largo Detective Keith Barton. He had been released by Thursday.

The morning he was shot, Guevara collapsed on a driveway off Trotter Road near Adrian Avenue and called police on his cell phone, according to court records. He had stumbled a couple of blocks north to the driveway from the site of the shooting near Trotter Road and 20th Avenue SW.

In court documents, Barton states that Guevara told him that the night of March 20, he purchased $40 worth of crack cocaine from a man in an area near Trotter Road and Adrian Avenue.

Guevara told Barton that the man also gave him a phone number that Guevara could call to arrange future purchases.

Guevara called four hours later, Barton said. The man who answered told Guevara to go to an area near Trotter Road and 20th Avenue SW.

Once there, Guevara handed the man $20 to buy crack, Barton stated.

The man asked Guevara whether he had more money, according to court records. When Guevara said he did not, the man shot him in the stomach with a double-barreled shotgun.

Guevara told Barton he fell backward and felt someone going through his pockets. He later determined he was missing about $150.

Barton stated he identified Graham as a suspect using the description provided by Guevara, information from sheriff's deputies' previous contact with Graham and a confidential source.

Jose Cardenas can be reached at 727 445-4224 or jcardenas@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 31, 2006, 01:09:18]