This morning, Taquan Ramel Brown was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 35 years in prison after being found guilty at trial in February, He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for Manslaughter, 15 years in prison for Robbery, and 5 years in prison for Conspiracy. The sentences will run consecutive.
Brown was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury in July 2018, for a May 13, 2018, crime. On that day, just after 2 a.m., Fort Myers Police Officers arrived on the scene of a shooting off of Marsh Avenue. There they found a man, who had been beaten and shot, laying in the street. He died less than an hour later, at a nearby hospital.
The Fort Myers Police Department investigation led to evidence that uncovered a conspiracy to target the victim and lure him to a location, so he could be robbed. The victim had $60 stolen, prior to being murdered. He had a friend with him at the time of the robbery who was shot at, but able to run away and get help.
The U.S. Marshals Task Force and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office assisted in this case as search warrants were served.
Homicide Unit Assistant State Attorney Daniel Feinberg, Assistant State Attorney Jessica Horowitz of the Special Victims Unit, and Assistant State Attorney Mara Marzano, also in the Homicide Unit, prosecuted the case.
Three co-defendants, Mario Joel Benitez, Edey Emmanuel Cardenas, and Cheyenne Nicole Marron, have already been sentenced for their roles in the crime.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office, Communications Director