HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A North Carolina man murdered another man he was taking a group vacation with as the two were at a short-term rental home in Hollywood on the Fourth of July, according to the city’s police department.
Investigators said Devian Blount, 21, of Graham, North Carolina, shot and killed Jaydon Williams, also 21, while the latter was on FaceTime with his girlfriend, still in the Tar Heel State.
Authorities said it happened just after 12:50 a.m. at a home at 1923 Funston St., which the “group of friends” had rented through Airbnb.
Police said Williams’ girlfriend called 911 after the FaceTime call “abruptly ended” following the shooting.
According to an arrest warrant, officers responded and heard a person call out for help, went inside and found Williams lying face down on a bed, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Still alive, police said he told them he didn’t know who shot him. He died at Memorial Regional Hospital less than an hour and a half later.
Blount had left the crime scene, police said.
Police said several other people from the group came back to the Airbnb after learning of the shooting and told investigators that earlier that day, they had been among a group of 30 to 40 participating in a “relaxed” yacht party off Miami. Investigators noted that “none of the witnesses observed Williams involved in any arguments, altercations or conflicts.”
The warrant states that Williams’ girlfriend later told police she heard an unknown man accuse Williams of stealing property while on the boat trip. Police said she heard him reply, “Yo, chill, you’re drunk,” immediately before hearing multiple gunshots.
Investigators said that they learned that Blount and Williams had stayed behind while the rest of the group went to LIV Nightclub in Miami Beach.
One of the group members told police that Blount had been “acting strangely throughout the trip” but that they never saw the two get into any arguments.
Police said at around 5:30 that morning, they received a call from someone who found a gun on the sidewalk near South Federal Highway and Fletcher Street, consistent with a gun Blount was known to carry.
Just after 7 a.m., police said Blount, identifying himself only as “Suave,” showed up at the crime scene and asked officers, unprompted, “Where everybody at?”
“We weren’t supposed to leave until tomorrow,” Blount said, according to the warrant.
But Blount now likely won’t be leaving South Florida anytime soon. Police said a witness identified Blount as the only person known to be in the Airbnb at the time and officers took him into custody on a first-degree murder charge.
As of Monday afternoon, he was being held without bond at the Broward Main Jail.
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