Background: Law enforcement officers escort Jonterich Smith to jail in Brevard County, Florida (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office). Inset left: Xazavier Butler (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: Jonterich Smith (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office).
A shooting incident outside a Florida diner resulted in one man’s arrest while another suspect remains at large, leaving two individuals injured and a 15-year-old girl dead.
Jonterich Smith, 20, is facing charges of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of aggravated battery using a firearm, as well as possessing a concealed weapon as a convicted felon. Xazavier Butler, also 20, is accused of the same murder and battery charges but was not yet apprehended as of Monday.
The gunfire took place around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the Anchors Seafood and Chicken restaurant located on Clearlake Road near Cocoa, according to an announcement from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. The incident started when 15-year-old Karyah Duncan and two male teenagers, noted by local Fox station WOFL, sat inside a white Toyota Corolla parked outside the eatery.
An arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime outlines that Smith walked into the restaurant, flaunting cash in front of his face before placing an order. Subsequently, he approached the white car and entered a Dodge Durango, which then drove off.
Shortly after, the Dodge SUV came to a halt behind the white Corolla, and “multiple suspects” quickly emerged from the vehicle using nearby cars as shields as they advanced on the white car occupied by the young female.
Smith and another person are said to have held rifles and fired them at the white sedan. The driver of this car exited and returned fire, according to law enforcement. As shots were fired, one person involved hid behind a vehicle door “in what appeared to be a state of panic.”
The suspects in the shooting entered the now-damaged Dodge Durango and left. When Brevard County deputies arrived at the scene, they found three people injured. Two of them survived, but Duncan — who was in the front passenger seat of the sedan — was pronounced dead less than two hours later.
An autopsy conducted the next day revealed that she had been shot in her neck, in the middle and left of her chest, and her left arm. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, police said. The window of the front passenger side of the Corolla had been “shattered” and multiple .223, .40, 7.62 and 9 mm caliber shell casings, as well as a 9 mm pistol “belonging to one of the victims” were recovered from the scene.
While authorities have not revealed whether the suspects and victims knew each other, the affidavit suggests the victims knew who attacked them. One of the teenage boys is said to have called 911 after the shooting and been heard saying “… Dooda…why did he do that?”
“During a sworn, audio-recorded interview of one of the male shooting victims he advised he recognized one of the assailants as ‘Dooda Black,'” the court document states. It is alleged that this nickname belongs to Smith — a claim later “confirmed” by his mother when officers arrived at her home.
Upon arrival, deputies say they saw a dark SUV in her backyard, partially obscured by a tarp. When she reportedly consented to deputies removing the tarp and searching the vehicle, they found bullet holes and a shattered window. Officers are also said to have located .223 and other ammo in Smith’s bedroom.
In the backyard, deputies discovered “the smell of a recent fire” coming from a storage shed. Inside it, they found a “pile of burnt ashes and remnants of what appeared to be clothing,” according to the affidavit. Authorities also reportedly tied Smith to the rental of the car because he used an Apple Pay account registered to his mom to pay for the rental.
About a week later, Smith was arrested in Volusia County following a traffic stop. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey condemned Smith as an “animal” while announcing his arrest at the “Sally Port” of the Brevard County Jail — a location the sheriff usually uses for announcing animal abuse arrests.
“Today, instead of walking in an animal abuser, I’m walking in an animal — a monster that killed a 15-year-old girl,” Ivey said. “This was an ambush that took place … and they jumped out of, you might remember, jumped out of an SUV and just started shooting right into the business, right into the car.”
“He can spend the rest of his life locked up and think about what he did, because it’s horrific,” the sheriff added before firing off a warning to Butler: “You’re next. Turn yourself in. Don’t be a coward. You were tough enough to do this. Turn yourself in.”
Smith is being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail. He had an initial appearance in court on Tuesday and is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 6.
