Tampa Bay briefs

By Times staff writers

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 2000

Drifter charged in killing of woman left by trash bin

TAMPA -- After the car she had borrowed from a friend wouldn't start, Tina Marie Pitts began walking along N 50th Street toward a known drug hole.

There, the mother of two who had been trying to kick a crack cocaine habit met a drifter named Rocky Gorza Juarez.

That meeting, police said, cost Pitts her life.

Juarez would later tell Tampa police detectives he gave Pitts $10 to buy some crack, then became furious when she began rummaging in his pockets for more cash.

"So he strangled her" with her torn dress, but not before Pitts scratched Juarez several times, collecting vital bits of DNA evidence under her fingernails, said Tampa Detective Kevin Durkin.

The nude body of Pitts, 36, was found Oct. 15 shortly after 11 p.m. next to a trash bin behind Save 'N' Pack at 5014 E Busch Blvd.

Thursday, police charged Juarez, 33, of no known address, with first-degree murder.

Deputy cleared in fatal shooting of suspect

ST. PETERSBURG -- A longtime Pinellas County sheriff's deputy has been cleared of wrongdoing in Wednesday's fatal shooting of a burglary suspect.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe ruled Friday that the shooting was justified because Deputy Larry Cottrell, 42, thought his life and the lives of two other officers were in danger.

The deputies answered a burglar alarm early Wednesday at the Opti-Mart business complex at 4301 35th St. N. Inside, they found Michael Anthony Cabrera, 39, lurking in a darkened corner.

Cabrera pushed a shelf of supplies at one deputy, then turned toward Cottrell and yelled, "I'm going to shoot you," the deputy reported.

Cottrell, a 19-year veteran, shot Cabrera twice with his 9mm Beretta pistol, hitting him in the chest and abdomen.

Cabrera was unarmed.

Man who told Strawberry of attack is found guilty

TAMPA -- A man who confided to former New York Yankees slugger Darryl Strawberry that he had shot someone was found guilty of a lesser charge of aggravated battery Friday.

Joe Earl Harrison knew Strawberry from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings they both attended. This week, Strawberry testified about his conversation with Harrison outside an AA meeting.

Strawberry said Harrison showed up badly beaten and told him he had been attacked by Elisha Scarborough. Harrison said he later shot at Scarborough. Scarborough suffered a gunshot to the head but recovered. On Friday, Harrison, originally charged with attempted murder, was found guilty of aggravated battery and could face a prison sentence at a hearing Monday.

Sixth member of rogue Delta unit pleads guilty

TAMPA -- A sixth member of a band of rogue deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office pleaded guilty to civil rights and drug violations in federal court Friday.

Christopher M. Wilson, 32, a former member of the elite Delta Task Force narcotics unit at the Manatee Sheriff's Office, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and distribution of cocaine.

The charges stem from Wilson's joining other Delta officers in planting cocaine on people in order to make drug arrests.

The charges against him carry a maximum penalty of 51 years in prison and fines totaling $2.35-million.

Man acquitted of murder after friend's testimony

TAMPA -- An unusual murder case ended in an acquittal Friday when a jury said Alfredo Duenes was not guilty of gunning down a 17-year-old at a Ruskin intersection last December.

During the trial, Duenes' friend, Enoch Hernandez, told the jury that he, not Duenes, shot Daniel Bazaldua that day. Jurors heard testimony from both Hernandez and Duenes and deliberated several hours Friday before acquitting Duenes. They did find him guilty of being a felon in possession of a gun.

Hernandez, who was originally charged only with accessory after the fact, was later indicted on a murder charge and will be tried separately.

Tampa police seek man, 18, in fatal shooting

TAMPA -- Tampa police are looking for 18-year-old Jamaal Jenkins, who they say is wanted in connection with a fatal shooting Wednesday.

Tampa police Detective K.B. Morris said 32-year-old Vincent Diaz Wells died Wednesday after arguing with someone witnesses identified as Jenkins.

The two men exchanged gunfire about 7 p.m. in front of 1910 E 15th Ave., Morris said, which is the home of Jenkins' girlfriend.

Wells was transported to Tampa General Hospital, where he later died.

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