A 24-year-old man has been arrested as the suspected trigger man in the September shooting death of a Lady Lake man at Wal-Mart in Fruitland Park.
Roderick D. Haynes of Leesburg was being held without bond on a charge of felony murder on Monday at the Lake County Jail.
He was arrested on a warrant that identifies him as the man who fired the fatal shot that claimed the life of 44-year-old Mark Allen Estes on Sept. 19 in the parking lot of the store. A drug deal appeared to have preceded the shooting. Haynes is believed to have been one of the occupants of a red Toyota from which shots were fired. Surveillance showed the vehicle fled the scene and Estes was left for dead in the parking lot.
Haynes had allegedly posted information, including videos from the shooting, on his Facebook page. The videos were available for viewing on Haynes’ public newsfeed, according to the arrest warrant.
When Lake County sheriff’s deputies went looking for Haynes, his father told them he had not seen his son. An anonymous tip was received indicating Haynes had fled to Valdosta, Ga. Deputies traveled to Valdosta and went to the home of an over-the-road trucker with whom Haynes was believed to have been staying. The trucker said that Haynes had arrived “unexpectedly” on Sept. 20 and left on Sept. 23. The trucker’s son told deputies he believed Haynes had taken a Greyhound bus to Louisiana. Both said they did not know of Haynes’ possible involvement in Estes’ death.
The search for Haynes ended back in Leesburg on Thursday when Haynes was located and taken into custody.
Scott Bernard Thomas, 24, also of Leesburg, had been arrested in September on a charge of third degree felony murder. You can read about his arrest HERE.
You can read Estes’ obituary HERE
