Gunman in Longboat Key Zota murders arrested after 2017 shooting, police say
A man accused of murdering two employees during a robbery at Longboat Key’s Zota Beach Resort has been arrested nearly eight years after the shooting, court records show.
Manatee County prosecutors have charged Damien Jarmard Garvin, 40, with first-degree murder in connection with an early morning heist that left a resort manager and a security guard dead in 2017, according to an arrest report.
Garvin was already serving a 10-year sentence for a separate murder in Miami-Dade County when Manatee authorities began the process of bringing him back to face charges in the Longboat Key case. Court records show he was transferred from Blackwater River Correctional Facility and booked into the Manatee County Jail on July 10.
Investigators say Garvin was the gunman who killed security guard Kevin Carter, 51, and front desk manager Timothy Hurley, 59, during the robbery. The group fled with less than $1,000 in cash after forcing the employees to the ground at gunpoint, according to arrest records.
According to the arrest report, investigators later connected Garvin to the Longboat Key killings after ballistic evidence linked a 9 mm handgun used in both murders to a shooting in the Miami-Dade case.
Garvin is the third person arrested in connection with the 2017 robbery, which investigators say was carried out by four people planning a coordinated attack on the beachfront resort.
Shooter charged in Zota murder case, officials say
His co-defendants include Latoya Hanna, 37, who was arrested in January 2024 and accused of driving the getaway car, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Her brother, Darryl Hanna, 37, worked part-time as a security guard at the resort and was arrested shortly after the killings and charged with two counts of second-degree murder and armed robbery, according to court records. A judge dismissed his case in 2020 after he experienced a medical event while in jail, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Attorneys for Garvin and Hanna did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s requests for comment.
Detectives say that in August 2017, the three and another person involved in the robbery met at the Sunrise Inn motel in Bradenton and drove to Zota Beach Resort, 4711 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, planning to rob the resort.
Surveillance footage captured a white van, which investigators say was rented by Latoya Hanna, driving south through Bradenton Beach toward Longboat Key shortly before the shooting, according to an arrest report. Investigators say cellphone records later showed a flurry of calls exchanged between Latoya and Darryl Hanna around the time they arrived on the island.
In the days leading up to the robbery, a fellow employee told investigators that Darryl Hanna had complained about his finances and lack of scheduled hours at the resort, according to the arrest report.
According to the arrest report, surveillance footage appeared to show Darryl Hanna entering the resort’s lobby wearing gloves and a mask, while Garvin and another accomplice came through a separate entrance out of view of security cameras. Garvin was armed with a 9 mm handgun, according to the report. Detectives say Latoya Hanna remained outside in the van.
Once inside, Garvin allegedly ordered Carter to the floor and told Hurley to hand over money from the cash drawers, according to investigators. When Hurley said he couldn’t open the hotel safe, detectives say Garvin threatened to kill him.
Garvin then shot Hurley in the leg, and after he still couldn’t open the safe, Garvin fatally shot him, the report says. As the group fled with about $900, detectives say Garvin also shot and killed Carter.
There were no surveillance cameras in the area where the shooting happened, according to an arrest report.
According to the arrest report, the 9 mm handgun Garvin used to kill both victims was traced to Latoya Hanna through purchase records. Crime scene technicians also recovered a .32-caliber bullet lodged in a wall, which investigators say was fired from a .380-caliber handgun legally owned by Darryl Hanna.
In 2023, FDLE confirmed that shell casings from the Zota Beach Resort matched those from a 2020 Miami-Dade murder committed by Garvin, linking the same 9 mm firearm to both cases, according to an arrest report.
Earlier armed robbery attempt
Authorities say this wasn’t the group’s first attempt to rob the resort.
About two weeks earlier, in July 2017, Darryl Hanna, Latoya Hanna and another person reportedly tried to carry out a similar robbery but were scared off by Carter. That night, Carter called 911 after spotting a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot and a man near the dumpsters adjusting what appeared to be a mask, according to an arrest report.
Investigators say license plate readers later showed the vehicle was rented by Latoya Hanna, and text messages from that night show her urging Darryl Hanna to leave. In one message, she wrote “Let’s go,” and in another, “Now.” Cell data later confirmed that both were in the area of the resort when the messages were exchanged, according to investigators.
A later search of Darryl Hanna’s phone revealed more incriminating messages and photos taken after the killings, according to the report. Investigators say the device contained images of the victims, texts referencing the robbery plans and records showing that all four suspects changed phones shortly after the murders.
At the time of the Miami-Dade shooting, Garvin and Latoya Hanna were living together in Hollywood, Florida, and had three children.
Court records show Garvin was arrested in 2020 for an unrelated murder in North Miami before his transfer to Manatee County five years later.
Legal fallout after Zota murders
In 2018, Hurley’s family filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the resort and its security contractor, Victory Security Agency II. The suit alleged that the killings could have been prevented if basic background checks had been conducted.
“This tragedy for the family has been unimaginable in the sense that it took someone who was the center of their universe permanently and forever, thereby altering the course of their lives,” Matt Morgan of Morgan & Morgan previously told the Bradenton Herald.
Court records show the resort’s owners were dismissed from the case in 2020, and the lawsuit was ultimately closed in 2021 after the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the remaining claims.
Garvin is being held without bond at the Manatee County Jail. Hanna, who was released on a $150,000 bond in March, is scheduled for a court hearing on Aug. 28. According to court filings, prosecutors and defense attorneys said they needed at least 60 more days to continue plea talks and decide whether to keep her case open until Garvin’s is resolved.
This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 5:50 AM.
