LEESBURG, Fla. – A woman faces charges after Leesburg police say she took shell casings from the scene of a deadly shooting and hid them inside her body.
Destiny Pendleton, 22, was arrested Wednesday at a home in the 1900 block of W. Main St.
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Officers were called there after a shooting, records show. Investigators said Pendleton was found in the back of the home near the body of the shooting victim — 37-year-old Lekendre Hall.
Police said they ordered Pendleton to show her hands but she ran and jumped a fence, falling to the other side where she ultimately stayed until officers secured her.
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Investigators said they found a lump in Pendleton’s pocket during a patdown, which she said were shell casings from the shooting.
Pendleton was placed in a patrol car while an officer retrieved gloves to remove the shell casings without damaging any potential evidence, records show.
When the officer went to remove the shell casings from Pendleton’s pocket, they were missing, according to an arrest affidavit. Police said Pendleton denied ever having any shell casings, prompting investigators to call for a female officer to help locate the evidence.
However, officers said Pendleton then removed three shell casings from her privates and handed them over to officers. She then requested medical attention for her fall from the fence, records show.
At the hospital, police said an X-ray revealed a fourth shell casing still inside Pendleton, which was removed and turned over to investigators.
Pendleton faces charges of resisting officers without violence and tampering with evidence.
Officers later identified Kevin Harrison, 19, as the gunman in the deadly shooting. He surrendered on Friday and is now locked up in the Lake County jail.
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