Two held in Jan. 20 slaying

Authorities say the victim was not an intended target.

By Rodney Thrash and Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writers
Published February 10, 2008

TAMPA - Two men were in custody late Saturday charged with the murder of Antonio Coleman, a former Atlanta public schools teacher of the year who grew up in Tampa.

Coleman, 36, was found dead in a Toyota near the Groovy Mule Club on Dale Mabry Highway near Waters Avenue on Jan. 20, with a gunshot wound to his head, the apparent victim of an errant bullet from a street fight.

Arrested Saturday were Raymond Torres Jr. and Max Ranier Jasper. Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives arrested Torres, 36, about 5 p.m. at 7002 N Clark Ave., Tampa., said sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway.

Three and a half hours later, Pinellas County SWAT team officers and Hillsborough detectives arrested Jasper, 22, at a residence at 112 Lexington Drive, Oldsmar. Marianne Pasha of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the home isn't Jasper's primary address; he was visiting a friend or relative.

Both men were charged with first-degree murder. Torres was in the Hillsborough County Jail; Jasper in the Pinellas County Jail.

Coleman's wife, Sesily Coleman, said she was helping her father get fitted for a tuxedo for her brother's wedding when police called Saturday afternoon to tell her they would arrest suspects in her husband's murder that evening. Antonio Coleman, a father of three, would have been a groomsman in the April wedding.

"It brings just a slight bit of closure," Sesily Coleman said in a phone interview. "For me and my kids, it's just a slight bit of relief."

Police allege the shooting stemmed from a fight at the club. Torres and Jasper left the club, armed themselves, returned and fired shots, said Callaway. One of the bullets pierced the rear window of Coleman's vehicle and struck him in the back of the head.

"We believe the victim was not the intended target," said Callaway, the Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman. "He was sitting in a parking lot in a rented vehicle."

Coleman had flown to Florida for an educational conference. Less than a month before his death, he'd taken a new job to train other teachers for Promethean, a company that provides technological equipment for classrooms. The conference was part of his new position.

The conference was in Orlando, but he came to Tampa to visit his mother and siblings, who still live here. Coleman was waiting for his brother in a parking lot near Groovy Mule when the shots were fired.

When deputies arrived at 6:01 a.m., they didn't notice Coleman sitting the car. They wouldn't find him until after 8 a.m.

Clarence Sherman, Coleman's first cousin who lives in Temple Terrace, called the arrests good news. "It's a new day beginning right now. We're vindicated," said Sherman, 50. "His family can rest in peace."

Coleman's wife said she cried Saturday when she got the call.

"Our lives have been turned upside down. For them to go on with (theirs) is unfair," she said late Saturday.

Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5303. Stephanie Garry can be reached at sgarry@sptimes.com or (727)892-2374.

[Last modified February 10, 2008, 01:02:40]