A Central Florida man who had been in an altercation at an Adamo Drive topless club on Saturday took out his vengeance on the wrong man, shooting and killing Fred William Turner Jr. as the victim phoned in the drama along Interstate 4, investigators said.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office investigators said that Jerome Edward Hayes, 48, of Saint Cloud, turned himself in Monday morning at the Orient Road Jail. Hayes has been charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and was being held with no bond.
“Although we know this arrest won’t take the place of Mr. Turner’s life, we hope it provides some closure to his family and friends,” said Col. Donna Lusczynski of the sheriff’s department of investigative services.
She dismissed speculation over the weekend that the killing might have been a case of road rage, saying the “tragic and unnecessary death” involved a case of mistaken identity and a victim in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hayes has an initial appearance in Hillsborough County Circuit Court scheduled for Tuesday morning.
The sheriff’s office said Hayes and a companion got into a fight with another patron at the Tampa Gold Club at 6222 Adamo Drive on Saturday afternoon. The two men were ordered to leave the club, which advertises full liquor and topless dancers.
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