Little Rock police arrested a 22-year-old Arkansan on Friday after identifying him as one of five homicide suspects in a Florida home-invasion slaying, according to court and arrest records.
Little Rock police officers patrolling the area of Breckenridge Drive around 2 a.m. Friday noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the M Star hotel, according to a police report. Officers ran the license plate on the Nissan Altima through the Arkansas Crime Information Center and learned that the vehicle was used as a getaway car for four homicide suspects in Orlando, Fla., the report said.
The vehicle belongs to Taylor Massey, a 22-year-old Roland resident, who Florida detectives believe is one of four men who shot and killed Alexander Correa, 20, on Jan. 14 during a home invasion in Orlando, according to an affidavit from the Orange County, Fla., sheriff's office.
At 4:20 p.m. that day, Orange County deputies responded to a shots-fired call in east Orlando, the affidavit said. Correa had been shot and was taken to a hospital, where he died about an hour later.
Witnesses at the house at the time of the shooting said four men dressed in hoodies, wearing masks and carrying guns entered through the back door of the stucco house, the affidavit said. Correa reportedly fought them and stabbed one of the intruders, witnesses said.
On Feb. 1, an anonymous tip named Massey as one of the suspects, described Massey's car and gave officers Massey's home address, the affidavit said. Officers said Massey matched the image in video footage of a man who dropped off a stabbing victim at a hospital fewer than 20 minutes after Correa was shot.
On Feb. 5, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent who was watching Massey's apartment saw the Arkansan and a female, who was also seen in hospital video after the shooting near the apartment. That was the last time officers saw him in Florida, the affidavit said.
Apartment officials told investigators that Massey was going to be evicted in three weeks for not paying rent, the affidavit said.
On Feb. 7, deputies found Ashley Deane-Webb, Michael Salgado Soto and Daquon Gathers in Massey's apartment, along with clothing that matched hospital video images of the slaying suspects, the affidavit said. Each has since been charged with first-degree murder.
Deane-Webb told detectives Massey "went back home a couple of days ago," the affidavit said.
Hours after spotting Massey in Little Rock, officers watching the hotel arrested Massey on the first-degree murder warrant out of Florida and a misdemeanor harassing communications warrant out of Little Rock, according to police reports.
Officers reported finding "items" inside the hotel room that were possibly related to the Florida homicide, but did not specify what they found.
Deane-Webb said during an interview that Massey had an AK-47 when he, Salgado Soto, Gathers and a fourth man walked inside the house where Correa was killed on Jan. 14, the affidavit said.
Deane-Webb told investigators that on the day before the homicide, the fourth man suspected in the shooting told her, Massey, Salgado Soto and Gathers that the house where Correa was shot was a "grow house" and that they should "hit it." Deane-Webb said the five people conducted a "practice run" the day before the homicide, the affidavit said.
Deane-Webb said Correa was shot because he opened the front door as if he was going to run away and then instead stabbed one of the robbers, the affidavit said. Deane-Webb did not specify who shot Correa, the affidavit said.
The fourth person, whom deputies have not arrested yet and had requested the the media not name until he is arrested, was stabbed and then made up a story about being stabbed on the way to the hospital, according to the affidavit.
Massey hired Little Rock lawyer Bill James as his attorney, according to court records. The charge of harassing communications was dropped Tuesday.
Besides the harassing communications charge, Massey's only police record is a protection order requested in 2016 and a traffic ticket from 2012, according to court records.
Metro on 02/13/2019