Lee County group leads charge against contested number of unsolved murders

FORT MYERS, Fla. – More than 600 people filled the Harborside Event Center for the annual Lee Interfaith for Empowerment Action Assembly to address what they believe are too many unsolved murders in the county.

Angela McClary joined the hundreds of people, speaking in front of 14 different Lee County congregations who met Monday evening. Nearly two years has passed since McClary’s son, Deonte Redding, was murdered outside a home off Summerlin Road.

“Each month I have contacted the detective on my son’s case,” she said. “I am told that the investigation cannot be thoroughly investigated due to overwhelming crime and death that has plagued our city.”

McClary’s brother, Zachary Blue, was also shot in 2014 in the same homicide. No arrests have been made despite police offering a $25,000 reward for information.

According to the Lee Interfaith for Empowerment conference, between January 2010 and January 2015 there have been 185 Lee County murders. Only 92 arrests have been made in connection to the killings, according to conference organizers.

Unsolved murders are not an issue exclusive to Lee County’s most crime-plagued communities, said Rev. William Glover of Lee Interfaith for Empowerment.

“This isn’t just a Dunbar problem,” he said. “This is a community-wide problem across the county.”

The numbers LIFE presented would mean the sheriff’s office has only solved about 50 percent of murder cases that occurred in a five year period throughout the county. But the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that LIFE’s numbers are incorrect.

“LIFE put out an erroneous media release, citing that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office efforts in investigating homicides were below par as compared to other agencies across the State and only had a clearance rate of 50 percent,” LCSO said in a written statement. “The Lee County Sheriff’s Office tracks all homicides so we are aware of the total number of cases, cases resulting in arrest and cases that remain active.”

The sheriff’s office say they responded to 113 homicides between January 2010 and January 2015, according to LCSO. Deputies made 85 arrests, LCSO said, which would mean 75 percent of their investigations ended in arrests.

According to the group Fort Myers Police Department’s murder arrest rate is around just 36. Chief Dennis Eads agrees his departments numbers aren’t where he would like them to be.

“One of the reasons that some of the cases don’t go is there is not enough evidence or we have witnesses who don’t tell the truth. They aren’t reliable,” he said. “Sometimes they tell one story and when they get interviewed again they tell a different story.”

LIFE asked Chief Eads to do more to help solve murders. Reverend Glover said law enforcement needs to stop blaming the community because people are too afraid to come forward especially when they aren’t seeing any arrests.

Chief Eads has already agreed to meet regularly with the State Attorney’s Office, to identify and implement policies that other departments with higher clearance rates are using and to give quarterly progress updates to LIFE.