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unsolved murder cases, Lake County.
Accident – Death – Obituary News : Editor’s note: This is the second of three stories about unsolved murder cases in Lake County. The first was published on Jan. 25 and the third will be published on Jan. 28.
Wrong place at the wrong time, a possible double-crosser who was double-crossed, drugs, robberies, motives unknown: These are among the sources of sleepless nights for detectives who grill suspects, pour over evidence — and still end up classifying a homicide as unsolved.
Why, for example, was 13-year-old Christopher Gutierrez and his uncle, Jesus Pantoja, 26, brutally murdered on Jan. 28, 2020, their bodies callously tossed in the back of a pickup truck? The discovery of their bodies shocked the Lake County Sheriff’s deputy who stumbled upon them during a routine check of a vehicle parked along the side of County Road 437 near County Road 44A outside of Eustis. “He noticed one body, then a second. It was quite a shock. You don’t expect to see bodies lying in the open like that,” shared sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Fred Jones at the time.
The investigators working on the case have determined that the killings were not drug-related and have described it as “an isolated incident.” Random homicides are rare, as most killers know their victims, and family members are typically the first to face investigators’ tough questions.
Detective Dan Conlee, who was lured out of retirement to investigate the Gutierrez and Pantoja deaths as a cold case, stated, “We’re getting close.” However, he remains tight-lipped about his suspicions since the case is still under investigation. “We’re working with the State Attorney’s Office to gather more information,” he added. “We did discover the crime scene, which was nearby.”
The initial call for tipsters was made by the sheriff’s office. They were seeking information regarding any sightings of Pantoja’s large, white GMC pickup between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3:20 a.m. the following morning. The family members of the victims were shocked by the tragedy. Pantoja’s brother informed reporters that the Apopka man had no enemies. Christopher, just a child, never got a chance to grow up and was known to love playing soccer.
The year that followed brought tragedy to the home of 19-year-old Damien L. Shiver in Leesburg. While playing a video game in the home he shared with six others, bullets suddenly crashed through the wall, with at least one striking and killing him. Leesburg Police Captain Joe Iozzi stated, “We think it might have been someone shooting at the wrong house,” although no further information has been released by the detectives working on the case.
Detectives have shed little light on many other unsolved cases, including those involving victims who may have found themselves on the wrong side of the law at times. One such case involved Willie Cunningham, who was shot at his home in Umatilla in 2018, resulting in life-threatening injuries to his mother, Freda Cunningham. Willie had a criminal drug history, and although a person of interest in the case was later murdered in Eustis, a second suspect was never found. Investigators are still actively working on the case. Cunningham’s obituary noted that he left behind twin daughters. The little red house where the tragedy occurred had a wooden wreath tacked above the door with the words, “Home Sweet Home,” and the yard was strewn with children’s toys.
Little is publicly known about the slaying of Kevin Trejo, 24, at his home in Astatula in the same year. Detectives do have surveillance video, but unfortunately, no one has been able to identify the man walking away from the scene. Similarly, in 2019, Luis Meraz, 25, was shot to death at Rosewood Apartments in Tavares. Witnesses reported seeing two men in a silver Chevy Avalanche with body damage drive off, but no further leads have been provided by the investigators.
In another tragic incident, 18-year-old Kyser Luther was shot to death outside Leesburg Supermarket on County Road 468. He was sitting in a red Mustang outside the store when he was struck by a hail of gunfire from shooters in another car.
Sometimes, the calls that go out over the police scanner sound too bizarre to be true. One such instance occurred in 2017 when the call was about a burning body discovered near a cemetery in Howey-in-the-Hills. The victim was later identified as Marlon Ricardo Nelson, 23, who was a friend of a man that had been shot to death in his car in Orlando. Additionally, a friend of that man narrowly escaped being shot to death by a gunman while standing in his front yard. As rumors piled up, investigators from Orange and Lake counties commenced efforts to unravel the cases. However, witnesses were too terrified to come forward, making the investigation challenging. Authorities are still working on solving these cases.
Lastly, there is the tragic case of Essence Shabli Owens, 23, a prostitute from Orlando. Her body was found in 2018 in a shallow grave in a remote area in Groveland. According to a cousin, she sometimes stayed with her, beaten and bruised. Detective Conlee shared, “We don’t know who she was with on her last ride.”
As investigators tirelessly work to solve these unsolved murder cases in Lake County, the community remains hopeful that justice will be served and the families of the victims will find closure..
unsolved murder cases
Lake County.
