Deputies Need Public's Help Identifying Hispanic Male Seen At Fatal Airbnb Shooting

UPDATE

DAVENPORT, FL — Deputies have arrested a 29-year-old man who is accused of being involved in killing a St. Petersburg man during a drug deal Wednesday at an Airbnb, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Monday.

Judd said 29-year-old Justin Jenkins of South Daytona Beach had a gun and his accomplice also had a gun when they were shown on footage leaving the house together Wednesday night.

Deputies described his accomplice as a Hispanic male. Investigators have not determined if Jenkins is accused of shooting Xavier Johnson of St. Pete or if his partner is accused of shooting the victim. (The unidentified accomplice is the second man in the photo at the top.)

"He was killed," Judd said. "He was brutally murdered. He was shot. But he wasn't dead at the scene. The three people (seen in an earlier video) that we needed to identify-they took him out of the house and dropped him off at the Heart of Florida Haines City Hospital. And then they fled."

Judd said those three men have been identified and they are suspects.

Johnson, the victim, later died at the hospital, according to investigators.

The owner, who lives out of state, of the Airbnb house saw the injured victim on her security camera and then called the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Judd said the owner had nothing to do with the drug dealings and the homicide.

"That's how we found the crime scene. Because the owner of the house in another state looked at the security camera," Judd said.

Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputies, the Volusia SWAT team, and the Polk County Sheriff's Office went to Jenkins' South Palmetto Street home in South Daytona Beach and served him a search warrant during Easter weekend. Jenkins was arrested during the search and taken to the Polk County Jail on charges

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is offering a $5,000 reward for the person who gives them the identity of the Hispanic male who accompanied Jenkins.

If anyone has information about this investigation you can call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-298-6200. If you have information and wish to remain anonymous, and be eligible for a cash reward, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers in one of four ways:

• Call 1-800-226 TIPS (8477)
• Dial **TIPS from your cell phone
• Visit Heartland Crime Stoppers, Submit Your Tip
• Download the free "P3tips" app on your smartphone or tablet

Initial Patch Story:

Deputies are seeking information about a fatal drug transaction in Davenport involving a St. Petersburg man on Wednesday, a Polk County Sheriff's Office news release said.

Home surveillance video footage at Acorn Court shows three men carrying the victim, Xavier Antonio Johnson, 29, of St. Pete out of an Airbnb the victim had been renting after he had been killed.

The three men, one of them holding a gun, went inside the house at 8:30 p.m. and then shot and killed Johnson, deputies said. (The Video Is At The Bottom Of This Article)

Deputies have not been able to identify the three men removing Johnson's body from the house.

According to deputies, Johnson and his associates had been selling marijuana from the house the day he began staying in the room on April 8.

If anyone has information about this investigation you can call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-298-6200. If you have information and wish to remain anonymous, and be eligible for a cash reward, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers in one of four ways:

• Call 1-800-226 TIPS (8477)
• Dial **TIPS from your cell phone
• Visit Heartland Crime Stoppers, Submit Your Tip
• Download the free "P3tips" app on your smartphone or tablet

Video Of Three Men Removing The Victim's Body Out Of Home, Provided By The Polk County Sheriff's Office: