Man connected to Fort Myers homicide investigation held without bond

A 45-year-old man appeared in court charged in connection to the death of a man on Colonial Boulevard near Ortiz Avenue.

On Sunday night police found a man dead in that area, now, Robert Lawrence faces drug and robbery charges.

In a previous report, WINK News reported this incident as a shooting, however, we now know it was a stabbing.

On Thursday WINK News learned more details in court about the hit-and-run and homicide that happened on Colonial Boulevard.

Robert Lawrence had a pretrial detention hearing because the state wanted him to be held behind bars without bond before his trial.

The state called several Fort Myers Police Department detectives to the stand to testify during which we learned more details about the victim’s injuries.

The 45-year-old shook his head while staring into our camera as he was led into court.

Lawrence faces a robbery with a weapons charge along with two charges of drug possession, but there could be more charges pending.

According to Fort Myers police, Lawrence’s SUV is connected to a homicide and hit-and-run where witnesses identified him as being on the scene.

FMPD tracked the hit-and-run SUV to Lawrence’s Lehigh Acres home where he had hidden it in the woods under a camo tarp.

FMPD detective Jean Baptiste spoke about what Lawrence said during his arrest.

“He stated that he did not do anything. He did not shoot anyone. Once asked to elaborate, Mr. Lawrence stated that all he knew was that he was in the car. He got rear-ended. He might have been holding something in his hand that poked them,” said Baptiste.

The victim, 23-year-old Jerry Adam, died from a single fatal stab wound and per the medical examiner, it was much deeper than a poke to the chest.

“Per Dr. Hernandez, she stated that it went through the rib cage, the heart, the lung, and almost to his spinal cord,” said Baptiste.

In conclusion, Judge Branning granted the state’s request:

“My decision is that the state has met its threshold burden under 907.041,” said Branning.

Lawrence will be held with no bond pending his pretrial hearing, as Branning found probable cause on counts 1, 2 and 3.

Lawrence’s arraignment is set for Dec. 2. WINK News will be there and will bring you the latest.