A 15-year-old boy died Friday night after he was accidentally shot in the chest in east Bradenton, and his 21-year-old friend has been charged with murder.

Devin Johnson was pronounced dead at his home in the 300 block of 58th Drive E. His friend Joseph Ferlin was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.

Ferlin, who was at the home Devin and his brother shared, was playing with a 9mm Beretta handgun shortly after 11 p.m., when Devin knocked on the door. Ferlin answered the door with the gun in his hand and fired at Devin, authorities said.

Ferlin told detectives that he thought the safety was on and that he was just playing with the gun, Manatee County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Atkinson said.

The Sheriff's Office said the shooting was accidental.

Ferlin, of the 1800 block of Ninth Ave. E., Bradenton, was booked into the Manatee County Jail and will go before a judge this morning. Neither of the two young men was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Atkinson said. Detectives are still trying to locate friends who were at the home when the shooting occurred.

Motorcyclist dies in accident near Brandon

A motorcyclist died Saturday just south of Brandon when a woman on her way to Dunkin' Donuts drove into his path.

Scott Joseph Smith, 25, was traveling west on Bloomingdale Avenue just west of Bell Shoals Road about 8 a.m. Saturday when Jannie Edmundson, 30, tried to turn left in front of him. She had been driving a 2000 Toyota east on Bloomingdale, said spokeswoman Debbie Carter of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Smith, of 13928 Hillcrest Drive in Riverview, tried to brake. His 1993 Honda motorcycle fell on its right side and skidded into the Toyota, said Carter.

Smith was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died at 9:05 a.m. Saturday. No charges have been filed. The investigation is continuing, Carter said.

Sex crime suspect surrenders to police

TARPON SPRINGS -- A Tarpon Springs man suspected in an armed sexual battery was arrested by police Saturday after a Sheriff's Office SWAT team responded to his apartment at Island Club condominiums.

Police arrested Mark W. Mericle, 40, at his home at 1500 Sunset Drive after receiving a woman's report of a sexual battery just before midnight on Friday.

But when Tarpon Springs police visited Mericle's apartment, he refused to come out, so police said they called the SWAT team and a crisis negotiator.

About 2 p.m., Mericle surrendered without incident and was arrested, authorities said.

Woman dies from October shooting

ST. PETERSBURG -- A 39-year-old woman who, police said, was shot three times last month by her boyfriend, died early Thursday at Bayfront Medical Center.

Dorothy Williams was at her home at 46421/2 19th Ave. S on Oct. 15 when, police said, Jerome Patrick "Champ" Lee, 24, broke down her door and fired seven shots at her, hitting Williams three times and wounding her in the stomach and kidney.

On Friday, an attempted murder charge against Lee was upgraded to first-degree murder.

After the shooting, police tracked Lee to his family's St. Petersburg home, where he vowed that he wouldn't be taken alive. But after two hours of negotiations with police, Lee surrendered without incident.

Citrus economic official quits after confrontation

CRYSTAL RIVER -- The future of the Citrus County Economic Development Council grew even less certain this week as its president, Mike Gudis, announced his resignation.

Citrus County Commissioner Jim Fowler demanded Gudis' resignation after Thursday's EDC meeting, in which Gudis had a verbal confrontation with Jim McIntosh, a local activist who has criticized the group.

When McIntosh asked the board several questions during the "public comment" portion of the meeting, Gudis snapped that it was time for comments, not questions. Gudis also said "we'll be here all day" if McIntosh asked anything else.

"It is an embarrassment to the board and to me personally to have you verbally abuse and berate a citizen in the manner you displayed, simply because his views differ from those of the EDC Board," Fowler, an EDC member, wrote in a Nov. 9 letter to Gudis.

Gudis' resignation came after a 21/2-hour meeting Thursday in which Fowler said the EDC could no longer count on county funding.

The EDC will run out of money within the next month, and plans to ask the County Commission Nov. 21 for enough money to wrap up its projects over the next six months.

Unitarian Universalist Church sets service plans

The Rev. Dee Graham of the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg will give a sermon on "Soldiers, Scouts and a Way Not United" at 11 a.m. today at the church, 719 Arlington Ave. N.

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