Pair arrested in fatal Florida City home invasion shooting caught on Facebook Live

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting during a home invasion robbery in Florida City last month that was broadcast on social media, authorities said.

Christopher Hankerson, 36, and Roderick Terrell Everett, 34, were arrested Monday on charges including first-degree murder-home invasion robbery, attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, arrest reports said.

According to the reports, the incident happened on Dec. 30 in the area of Northwest 14th Street and Northwest 2nd Avenue when the suspects entered a home armed while wearing masks and demanded money from the victims.

At some point, one of the suspects opened fire, killing one victim, 45-year-old Carl Melvin, and leaving the second victim, 34-year-old Quentavis Lejohn Smith, wounded, police said.

Both victims were on Facebook Live at the time of the shooting, partially capturing the incident, the reports said.

In the footage, gunfire can be heard, followed by a 911 call in which a man says: “I got shot. One dead… Please come get me… my cousin’s dead.”

Investigators found surveillance video that showed Hankerson and Everett in a blue Honda Accord traveling to the scene, and footage also showed that after the shooting, they returned to their home on bicycles that were stolen from the area, the reports said.

The investigators spoke with the owner of the Accord who said he drove Hankerson and a man he didn’t know and said he was familiar with the area because he had picked Hankerson up there a couple days earlier, the reports said.

Two bicycles were later found at Hankerson’s home that matched the description of the ones in the video that were stolen after the shooting, the reports said.

Hankerson was questioned by detectives and admitted he knows the victims and was with Everett the night of the shooting and was in the Accord, but denied being at the scene, the reports said.

But Everett’s cellphone showed he traveled to the scene and was present at the scene at the time of the murder, the reports said.

Both men were behind bars and expected to appear in bond court later Tuesday.