Sheriff’s office looking for suspect in fatal overnight shooting at Bradenton bar

Detectives are investigating a fatal shooting that killed a man at a Bradenton night club around closing time early Friday, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

At about 2 a.m., an altercation unfolded between Jarvis R. Isom Jr. and the suspected shooter outside the entrance way to the bar, Spot on 26th, 4307 26th St. W.

By Friday afternoon, detectives identified the suspected shooter as 30-year-old Demetrius Gabriel, who remained at-large Friday night.

Gabriel, detectives said, fired at least two shots into the entrance way before fleeing the scene.

“It is unknown at this time why Isom was shot,” sheriff’s office spokesman Randy Warren said.

Isom was hit and collapsed inside the bar. Paramedics responded to the scene and took Isom to a nearby hospital, where he died, according to the sheriff’s office.

The scene cleared quickly Friday morning, and detectives with the Manatee Homicide Investigative Unit were interviewing witnesses and pulled footage from the bar’s surveillance system. Within 12 hours of the fatal shooting, detectives had developed Gabriel as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant charging him with murder.

By 9 a.m., the only sign that a shooting occurred was a bloody mess left behind for Daphney Alford, of Let Me Do It cleaning service, to clean up, and a missing piece of paneling from the wall taken for evidence.

“This is sad,” Alford said. “This blows my mind.”

Alford, who said she worked in the medical field for 20 years as a dialysis technician, was accustomed to seeing blood. But the amount of blood she walked into Friday was significant, she said.

Spot on 26th was the first commercial account for her new business, which she began in June. She was surprised when she got the call from the bar’s management early Friday to let her know a shooting had occurred.

“This is going to be extra,” Alford said when she saw all the blood left for her to clean.

Gabriel’s criminal history includes convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to sell, leaving the scene of a crash, aggravating attempt to flee or elude law enforcement, driving with a suspended license, obstructing an officer and possession of a controlled substance.

In January 2008, Gabriel pleaded no contest to the possession of a controlled substance charge and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. Two months later, however, he violated his probation when he was arrested for his other charges. As a result, his probation was revoked and he was ordered to 364 days in the county jail.

For the other charges, Gabriel pleaded no contest and was also sentenced to serve 364 days in jail and had his driver’s license suspended for two years.

Gabriel’s criminal history also includes charges when he was a juvenile.

The victim, who would have turned 31 on Tuesday, also was no stranger to law enforcement. Isom was released from a Florida prison on April 1 after serving less than six months on a 13-month sentence for driving with a suspended license as a habitual offender and possession of heroin convictions. He had been given credit for the 189 days he was jailed in Collier County as the case was pending, according to court records.

The charges stemmed from a traffic stop on March 13, 2015, for suspected illegal tints by the Florida Highway Patrol. Isom was heading south on Interstate 75 when he was pulled over near mile marker 82 in Collier County.

Isom admitted to not having a driver’s license because it was suspended, and when the trooper questioned him about the smell of burnt marijuana, he admitted to having smoked as well.

When troopers searched his car, they found 13 baggies of heroin weighing a total of 2.0 grams and a marijuana blunt. But Isom denied knowing anything about the heroin, despite it being underneath the cigarettes he was smoking. He said the car was rented by his girlfriend and he was driving it back to Miami from Bradenton.

Ultimately, Isom pleaded no contest to the charges, which also included possession of marijuana.

Isom also had run-ins with local law enforcement. His prior convictions include sale of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of cocaine, giving a false name and multiple convictions for driving with a suspended license.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-8477(TIPS).

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Sheriff’s office looking for suspect in fatal overnight shooting at Bradenton bar."