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Months later, man wanted in slaying nowhere to be found

Authorities think Tyrone Grimes is in the Bahamas.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM, Times Staff Writer
Published December 28, 2007

BRANDON - His face blazes above State Road 60, scowling and wall-eyed.

TYRONE LAMONT GRIMES, the billboard reads: WANTED for MURDER.

Detectives say Grimes shot and killed Karen Williams in mid October, a mother of three, in a crowded Brandon nightclub not far from where his face is now on display.

Within hours of the slaying, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies named Grimes, 27, as the suspect. They started a manhunt through Hillsborough County's underworld.

But it has been more than two months since then, and the only place anyone has seen Grimes is on the billboard.

Sheriff's Capt. J.R. Burton said his deputies are still hunting for Grimes. He said they believe he has left the country.

"We have intelligence that he is in the Bahamas," Burton said.

Grimes lived in Miami, but had a wife in Tampa, Burton said. He would travel from one city to the other in a leased car.

He was popular in both places, despite an arrest record that included charges of felony assault, aggravated battery on a police officer, grand theft and cocaine possession, according to police records.

Investigators say he attended a rap concert at Club Fluid off Providence Road, where he argued with a group of men and then fired a pistol randomly into the crowd.

The bullets found Karen Williams, 36. She didn't know Grimes, police said. She was just in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

Now, Burton said, U.S. marshals and customs officers are scrutinizing passport records to see if they can find evidence of Grimes' whereabouts. The television show America's Most Wanted is also considering a segment on Grimes.

And Clear Channel donated billboard space to display Grimes' photo, Burton said.

It's unusual for a suspect to be identified so quickly after a crime, yet go uncaptured for so long. But Burton said his detectives are patient.

Sooner or later, he said, someone will give Grimes up. Or he'll make a mistake.

"We'll be there," he said.

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at srosenbaum@sptimes.com or 661-2442.

[Last modified December 28, 2007, 01:44:25]