Bradenton man went on the run after 2017 murder. He’s going to prison, records say
A Bradenton man will spend the rest of his life in prison for a fatal 2017 nightclub shooting, the State Attorney’s Office announced.
A Manatee County jury convicted Demetrius Gabriel, 37, of first-degree murder more than 7 years after he killed Jarvis R. Isom Jr., according to court records.
After a three-day trial, Circuit Judge Frederick Mercurio sentenced Gabriel to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence includes a 25-year minimum mandatory and credit for time served, court records show.
An attorney for Gabriel did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
Investigators said Gabriel shot Isom around 2 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2017, outside the entryway to Spot 26, a now-closed nightclub at 4307 26th St. W., just off Cortez Road in Bradenton.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Gabriel waited near the front door and opened fire as Isom walked up to pay the club’s cover charge. Surveillance video showed Gabriel pulling a gun from his waistband, shooting Isom in the face and “calmly” walking out of the club still holding the weapon, according to prosecutors.
Isom collapsed and paramedics brought him to a nearby hospital, where he died a short time later, deputies said.
Conviction in 2017 nightclub shooting
Detectives say they identified Gabriel as the suspect after matching fingerprints from a cup he left at the bar, which appeared in the surveillance footage. Two witnesses also picked him out of a photo lineup, according to an arrest report.
Although deputies obtained a warrant shortly after the shooting, it took law enforcement nearly five years to locate and arrest him. Gabriel used a false identity to avoid capture until 2022 when Miami police arrested him during a traffic stop on unrelated drug and weapons charges, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
At the time of the shooting, Gabriel was on probation after serving a federal prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute narcotics, according to court records. Prosecutors said he had been released less than two years before he shot and killed Isom.
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, according to court records.
A sheriff’s office spokesperson told the Bradenton Herald at the time that there was “no clear motive” for the shooting.
“We know that it is not random. Gabriel was targeting someone,” sheriff’s office spokesperson Randy Warren said in 2017.
In a news release following his conviction, prosecutors said Gabriel shot Isom “for reasons that are still unknown.”
Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell, who prosecuted the case, said in a written statement that Isom’s family “has waited a very long time for justice in this case, and we are relieved that they finally received it.”
Spot 26, formerly known as Spot on 26th, drew frequent law enforcement attention before it closed.
In the three years leading up to the 2017 shooting, deputies responded to 439 calls for service at the club, most of them for noise complaints or parking disputes with nearby businesses, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
In 2019, deputies investigated another shooting at the nightclub after a man known as “Scooter” shot two patrons in the parking lot following a fistfight, according to the sheriff’s office.
