A Palm Beach County jury has sentenced 19-year-old Brandon Frazier to life in prison for the 2023 shooting death of a 65-year-old customer inside 777 Liquors on South Military Trail in unincorporated Lake Worth Beach. The verdict capped a four-day trial in which jurors found Frazier guilty of first-degree murder with a firearm and of shooting into a building. Prosecutors say Frazier was working at the store at the time of the March 21, 2023 shooting.
State attorney outlines the case
According to a news release from the Office of the State Attorney, 15th Judicial Circuit, jurors convicted Frazier of first-degree murder with a firearm and shooting into a building after the 65-year-old victim was killed inside the liquor store on March 21, 2023. The release credits Assistant State Attorneys Alexa Ruggiero and Francine Edwards with prosecuting the case and notes that the investigation was handled by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
How investigators say it unfolded
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says deputies responded to reports of gunfire at the liquor store in the 3600 block of South Military Trail and found an adult man dead inside the business. Detectives from the agency's Violent Crimes Division led the investigation, securing the scene and asking the public for tips after the homicide.
Local coverage at the time reported that surveillance video showed someone matching Frazier's description retrieving what appeared to be an AR-style rifle from the trunk of a car shortly before shots were fired, and that investigators recovered about 20 spent shell casings near the victim, according to WPBF.
From suspect to sentence
Frazier, then 19, was identified as a suspect in the weeks after the March 2023 shooting and was eventually brought to trial. WPTV reports that jurors returned a guilty verdict after four days of testimony, and the court imposed a life sentence. The Office of the State Attorney reiterates that the case was investigated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Alexa Ruggiero and Francine Edwards.
