Teen sought in Gulfport slaying found in Florida

Juwan Johnson, wanted in the June 8 slaying of Stanton Saunders, has been taken into custody in central Florida.

Johnson, 18, is held in Lake County, Fla., on a murder warrant in the fatal shooting of the 21-year-old Saunders in Gulfport. Local police were notified about 1:30 a.m. Thursday that Johnson had been taken into custody in Leesburg, Fla., Gulfport police Sgt. Damon McDaniel said.

Johnson is held pending extradition.

Saunders collapsed in the street on 34th Avenue at Ganges Street in North Gulfport after he was seen running as shots were fired at him. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

He is the sixth person killed in Gulfport since January. His death marks the fourth homicide reported in North Gulfport this year.

Saunders’ friends and family have told the Sun Herald he had a 2-year-old son and was expecting the birth of a daughter in October. He wanted to be a rapper, they said, and had recently recorded some music.

Investigators believe Saunders had been in a fight with Johnson on Kentucky Avenue south of Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard. Johnson pulled a gun and fired several shots at Saunders as Saunders tried to run away, McDaniel said.

The fight apparently occurred near the playground behind the Isiah Fredericks Community Center. After the shooting, police stretched crime-scene tape from that area and across Kentucky Avenue, a vacant lot and 34th Avenue.

Police were notified about 11:30 a.m. Firefighters at the nearby Station 12 tried to stabilize him before an ambulance arrived. Saunders was taken to a hospital, where he died within 40 minutes of the shooting.

“It is a relief that Johnson is in custody,” Police Chief Leonard Papania said in a news release Thursday. “We can move forward in assuring justice.”

Town hall meeting on crime

A town hall meeting was held in North Gulfport on Wednesday night to address crime and other concerns in neighborhood.

“The North Gulfport community clearly stated that we, as a city, are going to take on violent crime,” Papania said. “Together, we are going to aggressively go after those few that are causing these crimes .”

After the city’s most recent killings in North Gulfport, Papania told the Sun Herald the increase in homicides concerns him. The majority of the city’s crime, he said, is done by an isolated group of people “who are not willing to give up their criminal lifestyles.”

"The majority of people in North Gulfport are good, hardworking people and are having to tolerate it."

Four killings in two months

The four slayings in North Gulfport occurred over a period of two months.

Saunders was shot within 13 hours of another fatal shooting in North Gulfport.

Chavis Allen, 38, was shot June 7 in his front yard on Dogwood Court. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Aaron Nathan Wilson, 63, was found with a gunshot wound to his chest May 1 in his home on 34th Avenue near Meadowlark Drive.

Mitchell Weathersby, 54, died of a gunshot wound to the chest April 6 in an armed robbery and triple shooting that wounded two others on MLK and Louisiana Avenue.

Suspects identified by police in those three homicides are ages 19 to 24.

Police have arrested all but one person sought in the North Gulfport slayings.

J’Var Vontou Pope, 24, is wanted in the triple shooting and armed robbery that led to Mitchell Weathersby’s death.

Other killings

The city’s other killings since January occurred in west Gulfport and downtown.

A 15-year-old was arrested on a murder charge in the Jan. 23 killing of Nigel Deandra Poole, who was 16. Police have said Poole was shot multiple times in the head on 18th Street.

Dennis Bunch, 27, was shot April 9 in front of Dolan Commons Apartments at 31st Street near 24th Street. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Jaquarius Jermon Shields, 20, is sought on a murder charge.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Teen sought in Gulfport slaying found in Florida."