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Letter to the editor

Arrest made in fatal home invasion that killed fiance

The 21-year-old man was already in jail.

By Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
Published March 7, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT VICTIM: Vinson Phillips, 46, was killed on Sept. 4 during a home invasion. ARRESTED: Brandon Sutton, 21, was arrested Thursday and faces a first-degree murder charge.

ST. PETERSBURG - The officer at the door had good news, but it made Patricia Powell remember the terror of the night she lost the father of her children.

At last, police had arrested a man in the home invasion that ended with the shooting of her fiance, Vinson Phillips, last year. The suspect, Brandon McCalvin Sutton, 21, was arrested Thursday and faces a first-degree murder charge.

He was already in jail facing more than a dozen other charges, including attempted homicide.

"I just hit the floor and went to crying," said Powell, 44, who had four children with Phillips. "It made me relive the day all over again."

Powell and her three younger children have remained in the home in the 2200 block of 33rd Street S, where two armed, masked men broke in late on Sept. 4 as the family was going to bed.

They forced Powell and her daughter to the floor and took Phillips into the walk-in closet, where he was shot. They fled the scene empty-handed. Phillips, 46, died at Bayfront Medical Center.

For six months, the motive for the crime has remained a mystery. Powell and her children have waited through sleepless nights for some clue of why Phillips, the well-respected owner of an auto body shop, was killed.

A piece of the answer emerged with the arrest of Sutton, who police said admitted his involvement in the home invasion and homicide. The gunmen believed the house contained a large sum of money, said police spokesman Bill Proffitt. It didn't.

Proffitt did not release details, including whether they believe Sutton was the shooter and how detectives identified him. Police are searching for at least one more suspect, he said.

William Cox, 48, worked alongside Phillips for about 24 years as the manager of Phillips Enterprises. He was the salesman while Phillips, the owner, fixed up cars.

Cox said work has been slow since his friend died, but he felt 100 percent better when he learned of the arrest from police who visited the shop Thursday morning.

Phillips' cousin, Pastor Clark Hazley of Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, said he hoped the arrest would help the family overcome their loss. He admired their strength to stay in their home, where they have supportive neighbors.

"That's what we were praying for," Hazley said. "I'm just thankful that something is coming out of it."

Powell is already thinking about the court case. She wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

"I never lost hope," Powell said. The police "told me to hold on, they will solve this case. I just felt in my heart he was too good of a man for them to not find justice."

Stephanie Garry can be reached at 727 892-2374 or sgarry@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 7, 2008, 00:46:50]