Love triangle may have led to 2015 shooting death in Manatee, cops say. Suspect is in jail

A 45-year-old man charged this week with murder in a 2015 shooting death was upset with the victim because he was communicating with the suspect’s then-girlfriend, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

Detectives last month re-interviewed a woman who revealed additional information about Joseph Russell’s intent to harm 34-year-old David Ritch.

“This information and other evidence collected during the five-year investigation helped detectives develop probable cause to charge Russell for the murder of David Ritch,” the sheriff’s office said Friday.

Russell was arrested at the Manatee County jail where he was being held on unrelated drug and weapons charges and charged with first-degree murder.

Deputies late on Aug. 29, 2015, responded to the Walgreen’s to find Ritch with a gunshot wound to his torso. Ritch, who worked as a server at a nearby restaurant, was still alive when deputies arrived.

RItch told deputies he was walking along the roadway when a light shined on him and he was shot. Ritch was unable to provide any further details and died the next morning at Blake Medical Center., the sheriff’s office said.

During the original investigation, a friend of Ritch and Russell told detectives that he lived in the same apartment complex where Russell had lived before being kicked out by his then-girlfriend.

On Aug. 30, 2015, detectives located a backpack behind the Walgreen’s inside an abandoned building with papers identifying that it belonged to Ritch. A few days late, two .22-caliber shell casings were found in the area detectives believed was the crime scene.

Detectives learned later that Russell was upset that Ritch was communicating with his girlfriend via text. A mutual friend showed detectives texts from Russell threatening Ritch.

It wasn’t enough evidence to arrest Russell at the time, but detectives say with the new information, probable cause was developed to make an arrest.