Manatee County detectives search for suspect in Palmetto slaying

PALMETTO -- Detectives are looking for a suspect in connection with the fatal shooting of a man found inside a boarded-up house in Palmetto earlier this year.

Collin Mahoney, 21, was found shot to death Jan. 31 in an abandoned house in the 500 block of 12th Street Drive West in Palmetto. Mahoney is believed to have been killed the previous afternoon not far from where he was found.

Detectives do not believe it was random.

On Thursday, Andrew Lee Perry, who turned 42 Sunday, was identified as the suspect in Mahoney's death after detectives with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Homicide Investigative Unit obtained an arrest warrant charging him with second-degree murder.

"We do believe he is still in the area," Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler said. "We very much want to talk to him. We certainly encourage him to turn himself in."

Perry should be considered armed and dangerous.

Last month, Tyler said detectives had identified a person of interest in the case but had not released Perry's identity. At the time, he indicated detectives were awaiting the results of tests on a significant amount of forensic evidence.

"We are happy to be closing this case," Tyler said.

Perry was released from prison in November 2013 after serving about three years and seven months of a four-year, three-month sentence for trafficking in illegal drugs. He was released from prison in 2003 after serving nine years and seven months of a 15-year sentence for convictions of armed robbery with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Anyone with any information on the case or on Perry's whereabouts can call the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at 941-747-3011, ext. 2519, the Palmetto Police Department at 941-721-2000 or to remain anonymous call Manatee Crimestoppers at 866-634-TIPS.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitternote>

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Manatee County detectives search for suspect in Palmetto slaying ."