Suspect in Brutal 7-Eleven Slaying Captured in Sarasota

This story was reported and written by Bloomingdale-Riverview Patch Local Editor Linda Chion Kenney.

One of three "dangerous" individuals wanted in connection with the vicious July 10 stabbing death of a 7-Eleven clerk in Riverview was captured in Sarasota, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reported.

A Sarasota County Sheriff's deputy spotted Russell Beasley's 2000 Toyota Solara on Interstate 75 near Fruitville Road shortly after 6 p.m., authorities said.

Beasley, 25, and another man, 23-year-old Brandan Garrett Green, were detained during a traffic stop without incident, a Hillsborough sheriff's spokesperson said in a media release.

"Detectives will be working through out the evening conducting interviews with
these two individuals to determine the full existent of their involvement in
this case," spokesperson Larry McKinnon wrote.

During about the same time, a Charlotte County Sheriff's deputy spotted the third suspect, 20-year-old Lawrence Robert Bongiovanni, walking along a roadway in Charlotte County, where he was arrested.

The men were to be booked into the respective counties and held for processing back to Hillsborough County. Bongiovanni was facing first-degree murder charges.

"We're happy to have captured these dangerous individuals and wanted to notify the public as quickly as possible," said sheriff's office spokesperson Larry McKinnon, in the report.

Earlier in the day, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee told reporters that a statewide alert had been issued in the case, in which Kenneth Lee Redding, 54, was killed at the 7-Eleven on Bloomingdale Avenue in Riverview.

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"I can tell you, from 35 years experience, this was a very brutal, premeditated attack," Gee said. "Right now, across the state of Florida, we are looking for two persons of interest."

Both men were from the area, Gee said, as he spoke to reporters behind the 7-Eleven.

There, shortly after 1:30 a.m., Redding, 54, was attacked by a man detectives identified as Bongiovanni. He allegedly stabbed Redding multiple times in the upper body before stealing scratch-off lottery tickets and fleeing the store on foot.

He allegedly caught up with the second man wanted in the case, identified as Beasley, 25, who Gee said was driving a car that likely was a 2002, two-door Toyota [Camry] Solara.

A break in the case came from surveillance video, which showed the assailant at the counter, dressed in a gray T-shirt and shorts. According to detectives, the man, later dressed in a royal blue and black hoodie and long pants, is seen entering a bathroom, where he reportedly waited for clearance to attack.

"He actually stalked the clerk," Gee said. "He waited in the store for quite awhile, hidden, for the clerk to be alone and that's when he attacked him. He stabbed him multiple times."

Gee said Bongiovanni stole a number of scratch-off lottery tickets before fleeing on foot and meeting up with Beasley.

"They cashed in a couple of those winning tickets at area convenience stores not far from this area," Gee said. "Since then, we know that shortly after nine o'clock they were down in Sarasota County. An hour after that they were in Charlotte County."

McKinnon said by cashing in lottery tickets, which could be traced by serial numbers, "it was like they were dropping bread crumbs" along their way, heading south on Interstate 75 from Riverview to Punta Gorda.

"They progressively moved south throughout the morning," Gee said. "That does not mean they did not turn around and come back."

Gee said no evidence has been unearthed to indicate that Redding knew his assailant, who McKinnon said had been waiting in the bathroom for "seven or eight minutes" before he attacked.

"I don't know if robbery was even a motive here or just a motive to kill this person" brutally, Gee said.

It was obvious the men "could strike again," Gee said. "They've shown a complete disregard for human life."

Hillsborough County Jail records show Bongiovanni and Beasley had criminal records. McKinnon said Bongiovanni had a "supervised release from prison 18 to 19 months ago."