OCOEE, Fla. – The Ocoee Police Department is asking the public for tips about a deadly shooting outside an Aldi on Colonial Drive.
The police held a news briefing Tuesday afternoon, providing some new information about the investigation and asking for any information the public could provide to solve the case.
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Officers said family members of victims Jamy Blanc and Kerry Pierre would be at the update, but only the Blanc family showed up to the event and did not wish to speak to the media.
“I’m the mother, I don’t have the strength to talk, I really don’t. I just know Jamay was friendly and was kind, and very, very respectable. I don’t have no strength, I really really don’t,” Blanc’s mother said.
Police said when officers responded to the shooting around 3:39 a.m. on Jan. 16, they found three men shot inside a Nissan Altima.
Investigators said 20-year-old Pierre and 23-year-old Blanc were killed. The third victim, Kens Fregiste, 19, was badly hurt in the shooting and remains hospitalized.
“Kens remains in critical condition at the hospital still fighting for his life every day,” Ocoee Police Lt. Scott Nylander said.
At this time, no arrests have been made.
Prior to the shooting, the victims were last seen in the Ocala area near exit 358 along Interstate 75, according to police.
“Today we are seeking not only the community’s help here in the Ocoee area, and the surrounding Orlando area, but we were also speaking to Marion County and to the city of Ocala and the Ocala area,” Nylander said. “We know they were there from about 1 o’clock in the morning to about 1:40 in the morning.”
Investigators now believe the three men also had a fourth person in the car with them when they returned from Ocala. Nylander did not reveal how detectives reached that conclusion. The lieutenant referred to the fourth person as a person of interest.
“We don’t know who was in that vehicle,” Nylander said. “We’re trying to even find out if that’s even related to this case... whether that person is related to what happened, whether Ocala is related to what happened as well. So that’s something we’re continuing to look into.”
Nylander said that there was no evidence of illegal activity found inside the victim’s car.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Ocoee Police Department at 407-905-3160 or Crimeline at 800-423-8477.
A $1,000 reward is being offered for any information that could lead to an arrest.