Woman faces murder charge for beating 71-year-old man to death in Fort Myers Beach

Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published:
Jennifer Richards mugshot from an unrelated October 2022 arrest. LCSO has not released an updated photo. (Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman they say beat a man to death near an abandoned gas station in Fort Myers Beach.

Deputies say they received a call about a man lying on the ground near an abandoned gas station on San Carlos Boulevard near Summerlin Road on December 30 just after 11 p.m.

When deputies arrived, they found a man with injuries to his head and face, with his pants pulled down to his thigh and pieces of a pipe on the ground nearby. Deputies say the man’s injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead shortly after they arrived.

The sheriff’s office identified the man killed as 71-year-old Vincent Facchiano.

Nearby the scene, deputies found two people sitting at the nearby abandoned gas station. One of the two was identified as 46-year-old Jennifer Richards.

Deputies spoke with Richards and a witness with her at the gas station. They say the witness was lying at his campsite at the gas station when Richards returned from a trip to the store. The witness told deputies he saw Richards get up a short time later, arm herself with a pipe, and approach Facchiano.

The witness said he did not see the attack but told deputies he heard what sounded like a person being beaten and the sound of a man ‘yelping’ before he saw Richards return with an injury to her hand.

When deputies spoke to Richards, she told them that she had just returned from the store when she saw Facchiano standing nearby, watching her with his pants pulled down. She told deputies that she was concerned that Facchiano would take advantage of women based on his actions, so she grabbed a pole and approached him.

Richards told deputies that Facchiano tried to grab her while his genitals were exposed, so she beat him with the pole. She said during the altercation, the pole broke, resulting in an injury to her hand. She told deputies she hit Facchiano until he was unresponsive before walking back to the gas station.

Based on the statements from Richards and the witness, deputies arrested Richards. She is facing a charge of second-degree murder.

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