The knot of this tragedy tightened with the Sanford Police Department's latest update as they secured the arrest of James Nelson, 23, marking him as the third suspect in the homicide case of Terance Pope, who was shot dead last month in a Best Buy parking lot, as per a news release from the department. Nelson turned himself into Seminole County jail yesterday without incident, as reported by ClickOrlando.
Previously captured suspects, Khalil Hunter, 23, and Shunavious Dorsey, 22, remain in custody facing charges including robbery with a firearm and first-degree felony murder, authorities maintaining that the shooting on December 17th appears to be a lethal fallout over an electronic item transaction.
Details from the arrest affidavit obtained by News 6 suggest that the victim was conversing with one of the men before planning the ill-fated meet-up at the store location, where instead of a sale, Pope faced a robbery and, ultimately, his demise; someone aware of Pope’s concerns had even dialed a tip line post-incident to voice that Pope "expressed fear that the suspect was trying to 'set him up,'" according to ClickOrlando.
WESH reported in detail that following the arrests of Hunter and Dorsey, an arrest warrant was immediately launched for Nelson. Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith pled with the public for assistance, stating, "The pain that Terance’s family is feeling, is a pain that no family should feel," emphasizing the gravity of Pope’s untimely death and the urgency to bring all suspects to justice.
