Victim in Collier house party shooting identified, killer still at large

WINK News is learning the victim of a fatal house party shooting was a Collier County public school student.

Deputies were reportedly on the scene already to break up the party when the shots rang out but were unable to locate the person responsible.

WINK News reporter Valentina LaFranca met some of the victim’s friends, who told her their friend’s name was D’eshia Arthur.

Her friends called her DD and said she went to Beacon High School.

On Monday, her friends and loved ones brought balloons and flowers to the scene, and they prayed and shed tears for her.

There’s a growing memorial on 64th Street Southwest as a tribute to Arthur.

Her killer remains on the run; witnesses told WINK News they heard seven or eight gunshots Saturday evening.

Aiden Cerritos was not there the night that claimed his friend’s life. He wasn’t allowed to go to that party.

He would’ve rather seen her on the bus Monday morning like he usually does, instead, he came to pay his respects.

“She loved everybody. She made a big difference in my life being happy,” said Cerritos. “She helped me with a lot of things that I needed help with. She would always like play around on the bus.”

Cerritos said she was funny enough to make every bus ride memorable.

“Even the bus drivers were laughing, like the attendant and the bus driver,” said Cerritos. “A whole bunch of [laughing], like the whole bus is laughing.”

Amidst the heartache this has caused, Cerritos found healing in DD’s memorial.

“It was hard. I cried a couple times here and there while I was, like, in school. In class, I cried,” said Cerritos. “Makes me happy, not happy that she died. It’s just like happy that she actually has friends that were there for her, that loved her and all that.”

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office returned to the scene on Monday. A witness said K-9 units were out there looking for more clues about who killed Arthur.

The Collier County School District released a statement that said in response to the student’s passing, they have provided on-site support for her peers and staff who are navigating this senseless act of violence that has taken a student’s life.

Everyone wants to know who is responsible but due to the active investigation, deputies have not confirmed anything aside from the one death.