911 caller who saw Andre Bryant’s body on side of road thought he was homeless or drunk

The 911 caller who reported seeing Andre Bryant’s body on the side of a Sarasota road at 7:30 a.m. Saturday thought he had either passed out drunk or was a homeless man who decided to sleep under an oak tree.

But when police arrived to the intersection of Bahia Vista Street and Yale Avenue they found Bryant, 31, dead from gunshot wounds.

Less than four hours before and about nine miles north, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office had found Rodney Williams, 23, and Keith Lamar Jones, 28, dead after responding to the 1100 block of Harvard Avenue to reports of a shooting.

A 25-year-old woman told detectives she came home and was accosted by three or four suspects. Detectives believe her boyfriend, along with Rodney Williams, 23, and possibly one other person, arrived home shortly after she did and encountered four suspects. An argument ensued and shots were exchanged.

Detectives with the Manatee Homicide Investigative Unit and Sarasota police are still working together to determine whether Bryant was one of the assailants at the Bayshore Gardens home, as they suspect.

The caller told 911 dispatchers that while she was driving down Bahia Vista Street, she spotted what appeared to be a drunk man under an oak tree in the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street.

“He looks like he’s a homeless guy. It’s not unusual that we have homeless people in our neighborhood,” the caller said. “I don’t know if he is drunk and passed out or he just decided to sleep there.”

The caller had difficulty describing Bryant’s appearance or recalling what he was wearing, saying she was on her way to an appointment at the hair salon. She described him as white, with a beard and wearing long pants, possibly jeans.

“He was just laying there, on his back,” the caller said.

Less than two years ago, Bryant was released from prison after a judge set aside his conviction for the armed robbery of the wife of a sheriff’s deputy at a Bradenton pharmacy in 2006.

No arrests have been made in the case, nor has the sheriff’s office named any other suspects other than Jones and possibly Bryant.

The multiagency Manatee Homicide Investigative Unit has been using all its resources, after six homicides occurred in a 38-hour time span between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning in Manatee County.

At about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, Melquisedec “Tito” Betancourt, 32, was found dead in a vehicle in a parking lot behind a business in the 7400 block of North Tamiami Trail after deputies responded to reports of gunfire. Karrie Lee Sanderson, 36, was apprehended within 45 minutes and later charged with second-degree murder.

At about 2:45 a.m. Friday, police say security guard Kevin Carter, 51, of Bradenton, and night front desk manager Timothy Hurley, 59, of Sarasota, were shot dead during an armed robbery at the Zota Beach Resort, 4711 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key.

Video clips from surveillance footage were released to the public showing a suspect walking out with two cash drawers, but police believe there could be two suspects.

This story was originally published August 8, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "911 caller who saw Andre Bryant’s body on side of road thought he was homeless or drunk."