Killer wanted to rob East Manatee murder victim of his marijuana, cops say
When 62-year-old Robert McCarthy last opened his front door in April 2018, Cody Oxendine was pointing a shotgun at him, the suspect later told detectives.
When McCarthy attempted to grab the shotgun, Oxendine shot him in the chest.
Oxendine, 26, then went inside McCarthy’s home in the Elwood Park neighborhood in East Manatee and took the marijuana he had planned to steal, according to arrest records filed in the case.
Homicide detectives were able to trace the stolen shotgun used to kill McCarthy to Oxendine after recovering it about a week later. The shotgun had been partially dissembled and found on the Fort Hamer Bridge, with the missing parts found in the Manatee River below.
More than two years later, Oxendine is charged with second-degree murder in the death of McCarthy. Oxendine was transferred to the Manatee County jail last weekend, after being extradited from the Henry County jail in McDonough, Ga. He is still being held without bond, according to jail records.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, detectives traced the purchase of the shotgun and learned then learned that it had been reported stolen on April 27, 2017. The owner told detectives he suspect Oxendine had stolen the gun because he had been staying at his home in the weeks leading up discovering it missing.
Oxendine was last seen by the gun’s owner the day before McCarthy was found shot dead, according to the affidavit. The owner also shared with detective photos sent to him by a mutual friend of Oxendine with the shotgun and marijuana.
Oxendine and his brother were both in custody in the Georgia jail when detectives interviewed them in June that year. His brother was at McCarthy’s home to get marijuana when Oxendine knocked on the door and then shot McCarthy. Oxendine admitted to planning the robbery and being there when McCarthy was killed but it wasn’t until detectives questioned him a second time in August 2018, that he admitted to shooting the victim, according to the sheriff’s office.
Oxendine is also facing charges of grand theft of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
