Today Levon Confton Barnes, 22, of Fort Myers was sentenced to 25 years in prison for Manslaughter with a Weapon. Barnes was convicted in April following a trial in Lee County.
The crime occurred in October 2015 when Barnes and the victim, a 22 year old male, ran into each other outside of a Fort Myers apartment complex. Witnesses say the conversation started off friendly but Barnes accused the victim of disclosing his location to other people. When the victim denied this, Barnes became angry. As they both walked down the sidewalk, the defendant was a few feet ahead of the victim, and he continued to try and argue with him. Barnes then abruptly stopped walking, pulled a handgun from the pocket of his pants, turned around and shot the man in the face. He fell to the ground and Barnes shot him in the back. The victim died on scene. The incident was captured on nearby surveillance video.
Immediately following the shooting, Barnes ran to another part of the apartment complex and then fled in a car.
A “be on the lookout” (B.O.L.O.) was issued for the defendant. He was located a few days later in Valdosta, Georgia by members of the United States Marshals Violent Crimes Task Force and arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by our office and signed by Judge Porter. Fort Myers Police Department Detectives drove to Valdosta to interview Barnes. He was then extradited back to Lee County approximately one week later.
Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner of our Homicide Unit and Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Royal prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
239-533-1125
ssyoen@sao20.org