Crime & Safety
'Not Enough Evidence' to Link Men Caught in Sarasota to 7-Eleven Slaying
Two men who were detained by Sarasota County deputies are being considered material witnesses to the brutal killing of a 7-Eleven clerk in Riverview, authorities said.
There is not enough evidence to link two men apprehended in Sarasota on Wednesday night with the brutal slaying of a 7-Eleven clerk in Riverview, Hillsborough County law enforcement officials said Thursday.
Russell Beasley, 25, and Brandan Garrett Green, 23, were pulled over by Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies on Interstate 75 near Fruitville Road shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday after they spotted Beasley's 2000 Toyota Solara.
Beasley had been wanted in connection with the vicious July 10 stabbing death of a 7-Eleven clerk earlier that morning.
Detectives interviewed the two men late into the early morning hours "and determined at this point there is not enough evidence to connect them to the actual murder of Kenneth Redding," according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Larry McKinnon.
The two have been released and are being considered as material witnesses in the investigation. Both are "fully cooperating with investigators," McKinnon said in a media release.
"Detectives are still attempting to gather additional evidence and information on what role they may have played after the homicide regarding cashing the stolen lottery tickets," McKinnon said.
A third man, Lawrence Bongiovanni, 20, has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in the case. Detectives say Bongiovanni attacked the convenience store clerk shortly after 1:30 a.m., stabbing him multiple times in the upper body before stealing scratch-off lottery tickets and fleeing on foot.
He allegedly caught up with Beasley, and the two later cashed in several of winning tickets that helped lead detectives to them by tracing their serial numbers, Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee said.
A Charlotte County Sheriff's deputy spotted Bongiovanni walking along a roadway in Charlotte County, where he was arrested.
He was booked into the Charlotte County Jail late Wednesday night and is being held with no bond awaiting extradition back to Hillsborough County Jail, officials said.
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