Mother, daughter avoid close call after drive-by shooting near Jones Walker Apartments

Reporter: Andrea Guerrero Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Damage caused by a bullet can be seen at an apartment at Jones Walker Apartments in Fort Myers. Police are investigating a drive-by shooting that injured a pregnant woman Thursday, April 15, 2021. Credit: WINK News.

A 19-year-old pregnant woman is in stable condition after being injured during a drive-by shooting near Jones Walker Apartments in Fort Myers. That scene unfolded Thursday, and investigators ultimately brought a suspect into custody.

We know 18-year-old Jarret Lane Nowling is in Lee County Jail in connection to the shooting. Police arrested him in the Suncoast Estates neighborhood.

We spoke to a mother and daughter Friday who could have been hurt during the shooting. When they returned to their home at Jones Walker, they found bullet holes where they often sit had they been there at the time of the shooting.

“Usually we sit right here,” Davinia Mullings explained. “She sits right there, and I sit right here, so if you think we were home, that one bullet would have come through and hit my mom first, and then, it would have hit me.”

Late Friday, FMPD also confirmed there is surveillance video of the shooting. Detectives won’t release it, but a police report says it shows a man hanging out of a window of a white SUV and holding a firearm with an extended magazine.

That video led them to Nowling. He faces charges related to him shooting the pregnant woman twice. She and her unborn baby were taken to the hospital. They are reportedly OK and back home. She was reportedly shot in the leg.

“I seen the window, and there’s three bullet holes over there,” Mullings said. “And there’s one over here, and it’s like, ‘Wow.’”

We connected with the pregnant mom, but she did not want to speak on camera to WINK News. She did say the shooting left her shaken, and she does not know the named suspect.

Cynthia Kitchen and her daughter told us it’s time to pack up and move out of Jones Walker. She lives in the same building as the victim at the complex.

“For it to now enter my home, it’s over. I got to go,” Kitchen said. “If there’s anybody out there that can help me and my girl get out of here, please.”

Despite the arrest, FMPD says its investigation remains active.

Editor’s note: Police previously said a traffic stop on Business 41 Thursday was connected to the shooting investigation. It has since been confirmed there was no relation. It was also previously reported Nowling had been arrested at the traffic stop rather than in Suncoast Estates. It is confirmed Nowling is the suspect arrested in Suncoast Estates in connection to the drive-by shooting near Jones Walker Apartments. 

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.