Judge orders Devin Chandler, double homicide suspect, be held without bond at Manatee County jail

MANATEE -- A judge ordered the suspect in the Labor Day slayings of two brothers at their family's Palmetto convenience store be held without bond in the Manatee County jail.

Devin Chandler, who was arrested Tuesday in Tampa, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of armed robbery with a firearm and a violation of probation.

On Thursday afternoon, Chandler, a convicted felon, made his first appearance before Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky and was ordered held without bond.

Dubensky asked Chandler if he understood the charges against him and if he had hired an attorney.

"I'm working on it," Chandler said.

Dubensky asked if he would like a public defender appointed to his case in the interim and Chandler agreed.

A Tampa judge Wednesday ordered that he be held before he was sent back to Manatee County.

The ambush of the two brothers was caught on the store's video surveillance, according to Palmetto police.

Khasem Yousef, 23, and his brother, Faares Yousef, 17, were working at Snappy's Mart, 559 17th St. W., Palmetto, when investigators say Chandler walked into the store around 2:30 p.m. Monday, picked up one item and walked up to the counter.

Instead of paying, detectives say he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun, first killing the older brother, standing next to him, and then shooting the younger brother who was standing behind the counter. Both brothers were shot in the head.

Chandler then jumped on the counter and took cash from the register and cigarettes from a rack before

jumping back over and leaving the store, police said.

Police were notified after a customer walked in and found the brothers' bodies.

There was no family present in the courtroom on behalf of the victims, but Assistant State Attorney Art Brown, assigned to the case, and members of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Homicide Investigative Unit were in attendance.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Judge orders Devin Chandler, double homicide suspect, be held without bond at Manatee County jail ."