FORT MYERS, Fl. — A New Jersey man who lawyers claim killed his neighbor for Tik Tok fame was recently arrested Saturday night in Fort Myers.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was tipped off by a victim that a man, driving a Nissan Infiniti near Meridian Center Parkway, was brandishing a gun towards other drivers.
"Troopers had learned of an incident on Saturday night that obviously scared some people," says Gregory Bueno, Florida Highway Patrol Public Information Officer.
Troopers tracked down the car a few miles away on Alico road. The driver was identified as 18-year-old Zachary Latham. A man who’s become infamous online for another, more horrific crime in New Jersey.
In April of 2020, Latham, a member of the National Guard began going viral on Tik-Tok by posting videos of his verbal altercations with his neighbors, William, 51, and Catherine Durham.
A video of him taunting and mocking Catherine Durham as she confronted him about recklessly driving through their south Jersey neighborhood received nearly 3 million likes on the app.
The situation came to a bloody end on May 4, 2020, after Latham was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the stabbing death of William Durham.
Police say an altercation led up to Durham's death. Latham was released on bond after his lawyers claimed self-defense, but the Durham's say Latham wanted nothing more than to get famous from their confrontation videos on Tik-Tok.
The Florida Highway Patrol says that Latham has been awaiting trial for the New Jersey case here in Cape Coral.
When Latham was arrested Saturday night, Troopers found a BB air-soft gun in his car that closely resembled an assault rifle.
"You know to use a weapon, that to the naked eye, anyone else is going to think that is a real gun. It actually resembles an ak-47. To use that as intimidation or coercion or whatever was his mentality with what occurred, we can’t have a society where we do that," says Lt. Bueno.
Latham was taken to the Lee County Jail where he was charged with two counts of felony assault. As of Monday, he bonded out and is scheduled to have his next appearance in court at the end of February.
