Brian Hyde Charged With Triple Homicide in Lehigh Acres, Florida
Brian Hyde Charged With Triple Homicide in Lehigh Acres, Florida
by SHAMAR WALTERS
A teenager from Belize has been charged with murdering three people — including his pregnant cousin — in an "extremely violent" attack in Florida, officials said Thursday.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office said deputies responding to a medical assistance call on Tuesday found three dead bodies inside a home in Lehigh Acres, about 12 miles east of Fort Myers. An 18-month-old child was found alive.
The deceased — identified as 37-year-old Dorla Pitts, her pregnant 17-year-old daughter Starlett Pitts and the girl's boyfriend Michael Kelly Jr., 19 — had suffered "repeated, sharp force trauma," according to the sheriff's Office.
It said that while processing the "extremely violent" and bloody crime scene, detectives learned that 19-year old Brian Omar Hyde had been pulled over by Fort Myers police for driving on the wrong side of the road.
Hyde was in a white Range Rover registered to the same address as the crime scene and had "visible blood" on his pants and shoes, the sheriff's office said.
The 19-year-old — Dorla Pitts' nephew — was arrested for driving without a license and later charged with murder after investigators found more evidence linking him to the scene.
The sheriff's office said that a bloody palm print at the crime scene was a match for Hyde and that investigators believe Dorla Pitt walked in as the attack was in progress because her husband told detectives he was on the phone with her when she screamed "Brian! What happened here!" before the line went dead.
Hyde — who officials say illegally entered the United States from Belize about seven months ago — is facing three counts of second degree murder and one count of killing an unborn child by injury to the mother.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...icials-n409711
Illegal Immigrant Charged with Murdering 3 Family Members and Unborn Child
by Bob Price
14 Aug 2015
1,229 comments
An illegal immigrant from Belize who, according to sheriff’s officials, entered the U.S. through Texas has been arrested and charged with the murders of three members of his family and the unborn child of his cousin. Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Ft. Myers, Florida, responded on Tuesday to a gruesome scene where they found the bodies of a 37-year-old woman, her 18-year-old daughter and the daughter’s 19-year-old boyfriend.
Police had been called to the scene after the woman’s husband heard her scream her last words during a phone conversation with him, according to police records. An 18-month-old child was also found, unharmed, at the scene.
Brian Omar Hyde, 19, who sheriff’s officials claimed entered the U.S. illegally from Belize through Texas, was arrested following a traffic stop for driving on the wrong side of the road and failure to maintain his lane. Officers with the Ft. Myers Police Department who stopped Hyde learned the vehicle was registered to the same address as the crime scene deputies were responding to at the time. He was also driving without a driver’s license.
Hyde had noticeable blood on his pants and shoes. He also had the keys for two other vehicles registered to that same address, a police report (attached below) revealed. Blood was also found on items inside the vehicle.
Lt. Scott Lineberger, with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed to Breitbart Texas that his department stated Hyde was an illegal immigrant who had entered the United States illegally through Texas about seven months ago.
Responding to an inquiry from Breitbart Texas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) public affairs officer Nestor Yglesias wrote, “ICE has filed a request with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office for notification if they intend to release the individual from custody.” Yglesias would not comment on any prior contact the agency has had with Hyde in terms of prior deportations or entries to the U.S., citing privacy policies.
Lineberger told Breitbart Texas that Hyde is being held on three counts of second degree murder and one count in connection with the death of the unborn child.
The victims were identified by police as Dorla Pitts, Starlett Pitts and Michael Kelly. Dorla Pitts was the aunt of the suspect, Brian Hyde. Starlett Pitts was his cousin. It was later learned that Starlett was about 27-weeks pregnant with a viable unborn child.
Dorla Pitt’s husband, Dorrien Pitts, was on the phone with her when she suddenly screamed, “Brian! What happened here? What happened?” according to Pitts statement to police. The phone disconnected after that. Further calls to that phone went unanswered.
Mr. Pitts called a neighbor, Hilbert Lewis, who went next door. He was continuing to try and call Dorla but there was no answer. Upon arriving at the home, he knocked on the door and rang the bell, police reports state. Mr. Pitts gave Lewis the digital code to the door and he unlocked it and made entry. Upon entering the home, Lewis discovered blood stains on the floor and the foot of a person lying on the floor. They foot was extended beyond the couch and was all he could see, the report states.
Lewis became frightened and retreated from the home and went out to the street where he called 9-1-1.
An autopsy revealed that all three victims were killed by “sharp force trauma” to the head and neck, the report states. It appears all three victims fought back against Hyde. All three sustained defensive wounds. The autopsy of Starlett Pitts also revealed she was approximately six-months pregnant and that the baby was viable. The cause of death for the unborn child was listed as “maternal homicidal violence.” Starlett was also the mother of the 18-month-old child who was found unharmed at the bloody scene.
Hyde did not confess to the crime and there appears to be no known motive for the killings at this time.
Breitbart Texas spoke with officials of the Lee County jail who confirmed Hyde was born in the country of Belize in Central America. The jail official also confirmed their records state Hyde did not have an ICE detainer.
Hyde has an extensive criminal record in Belize, according to an NBC-2 report from Ft. Myers. He was currently wanted in Belize in connection to a robbery of a cell phone store. He had also been arrested last year in Belize for allegedly assaulting a police officer. He is said to have come from a “criminal family” according to a newspaper reporter in Belize and reported by NBC-2. He may have also been involved in murders in that country.
Hyde remains in custody in the Lee County Corrections Facility pending a Sept. 15th arraignment.
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/...-unborn-child/
Illegal immigrant accused in triple homicide in Florida home
Published August 15, 2015
FoxNews.com
A 19-year-old illegal immigrant was being held without bail Saturday after the discovery of three bodies at a crime scene in a Florida home that veteran cops called “almost unimaginable.”
Brian Omar Hyde appeared before a judge Friday on charges he killed his pregnant cousin Starlett Pitts, 17, and her 19-year-old boyfriend in a Lehigh Acres home Tuesday, and then killed his aunt and Pitts’ mother, Dorla Pitts, 37, when she walked in on the scene while on the phone with her husband. Lee County deputies said he heard her scream, “Brian! What happened here? What happened?” before the phone went silent.
“All homicide scenes are normally violent but even for us this scene was what we considered almost unimaginable,” Lt. Matt Sands said Thursday, according to WBBH-TV.
Hyde was in the country illegally from Belize in Central America and awaiting a court hearing as an illegal immigrant, having crossed the Texas border earlier this year, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.
He fled to the U.S. to live with his aunt to avoid a trial in a Belize courtroom on charges of assaulting a police officer last November, the station said. He was then tried in absentia, found guilty, and given a 6-month jail sentence that remains to be served.
Hyde was also wanted in Belize on charges of robbing a cell phone store, the station said, while also reporting, according to reports, that the teen and two other men were suspects in a double homicide in 2013. Eventually, he was charged with a lesser crime of handling stolen goods.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement Friday that said, “ICE has filed a request with the Lee County Sheriff's Office for notification if they intend to release the individual from custody.”
Police said the victims were killed by repeated "sharp force trauma" to the head and neck. Sands said each victim had wounds indicating they tried to defend themselves as they were being attacked.
Dorrien Pitts called a friend to check on his wife when he couldn't get her back on the phone. The friend saw blood stains on the floor and a foot near a couch, ran outside and called 911, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.
As cops collected evidence at the crime scene, Fort Myers cops stopped Hyde in an SUV for a traffic violation and arrested him for driving without a license.
When he was arrested, he had human blood on his bare feet, his shoes and pants, the paper said, citing the arrest report.
A bloody palm print recovered at the crime scene matched the left palm print taken from Hyde after his arrest in Fort Myers, the Lee Sheriff's Office said.
According to the arrest report police found a backpack full of clean clothes in the SUV along with several pairs of shoes making it appear to investigators “as if Hyde was about to flee the area.”
Investigators said they also discovered in the vehicle Hyde’s immigration papers and Dorla Pitts’ employee ID card from Naples Community Hospital where she worked as a nurse.
Hyde faces three count of second degree murder and one count of killing an unborn child by injury to the mother.
Pitts was helping her nephew obtain a high school equivalency diploma, her heart-broken sister Sasha Hyde told the News-Press from Belize.
“He was looking for something better in life,” she said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/15...-florida-home/
