FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A Lee County jury has given a guilty verdict in a 2016 Fort Myers murder case in which a man chased the victim down following an argument and shot him dead outside a convenience store.
24-year-old Davonte Harris faces life in prison for Second Degree Murder with a Firearm, according to the State Attorney's Office.
The murder happened on August 27th, 2016. Investigators say Harris and 25-year-old Willie James Moore, Jr. got into an argument at the Travelodge on S. Cleveland Avenue just south of Colonial Boulevard. Harris then ran to his room and grabbed a handgun, then chased Moore across the street to a RaceTrac station.
In an effort to escape from Harris, Moore attempted to steal a vehicle from two women at the gas station but was unsuccessful. Harris followed Moore behind the station and shot him dead.
Harris was taken into custody a few days later and charged with murder. According to the State Attorney's office, a search of his vehicle revealed two key pieces of evidence.
The first piece of evidence was a handgun which was later confirmed as the murder weapon.
The second piece was a cellphone belonging to Harris’s girlfriend. On the night of the shooting, she had been at the hotel with Harris but around the time of the murder she did not know where he was. She began texting him but his phone was laying behind the convenience store with the victim, placing the defendant at the scene of the crime.
Harris’s sentencing is scheduled for July 9th.
