FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A second arrest was made Thursday in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred on May 9 in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fort Lauderdale.
The shooting was reported around 9:40 p.m. that night outside 3741 SW First St.
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According to an arrest warrant, surveillance video shows four people, including the victim, standing outside an apartment building when someone is seen running up to the victim and firing a single shot.
Police said one of the victim’s friends returned fire with an AR-15, shooting at the gunman about eight times.
Authorities said the initial gunman, Marcelle Thermitus, 23, and his alleged accomplice, Shaquile Travis Walker, 22, arrived a short time later to Delray Medical Center because Thermitus had been shot in the right thigh.
Both men were questioned at the hospital, but gave conflicting accounts on how Thermitus was shot and where they were when it happened, the warrant stated.
After being discharged from the hospital the next day, police said Thermitus posted a video on Instagram of himself and Walker with the caption “Spilt da lean.”
According to authorities, “lean” is a drink that is made with either cough syrup with codeine or promethazine and is usually purple in color, however the phrase “spilt da lean” in street terms means a celebration, “usually the act of shooting or killing someone.”
The warrant states that a witness told detectives he believed the shooter was a man he knew as “Boogie” who had previously gotten into an altercation with the victim at the same location.
Detectives said cellphone tower records showed both Thermitus and Walker were at the scene of the shooting when it occurred.
The victim, who was shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was redacted from the arrest warrant, per Marsy’s Law.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear.
Thermitus, who was arrested on July 25, and Walker, who was arrested Thursday both face premeditated murder charges.