This morning Thunda Nathaniel Strawder was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison for Second-Degree Murder with a Firearm.
On February 16, 2020, the Fort Myers Police Department received a shot-spotter alert notification of gunshots fired in the area of Michigan Avenue. Officers arrived within minutes and found a male victim who had been shot, who later died from his wounds.
The Crime Scene Unit with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was contacted to document the scene and collect evidence. An I-Phone in a bright orange case was located in a grassy area nearby.
The phone was later identified in the back-pocket of the defendant, on surveillance video from earlier in the day, while he was outside of a nearby convenience store. In the video, the defendant is seen running towards a car and jumping in. Minutes later, that car was on Michigan Avenue, where the victim was shot. The investigation and evidence collected led to the arrest of the defendant.
Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner, of the State Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit, and Assistant State Attorney Jody Brown, prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office