Man Shot by Deputies After Murdering Three Manatee County Women Monday Evening

MANATEE COUNTY — Javontee Brice went on a "killing spree" in Manatee County Monday evening, murdering three women at three different locations before being gunned down by police.

At around 9:15 p.m., deputies responded to a shooting at the Motel 6, 660 67th Street Circle East in Bradenton. When they arrived, they found a 48-year-old woman, identified as Brice's mother, Titimysha Scott, dead from a gunshot wound. Witnesses told deputies that Brice, 28, came to the motel and shot his mother three times for unknown reasons, then fled the area, possibly heading to Georgia.

At approximately 9:40 p.m., deputies were dispatched to another shooting in the 900 block of 26th Street Court East, Palmetto, where a 29-year-old female had been shot while sitting inside a parked SUV. As deputies arrived, Palmetto Police officers were attempting lifesaving measures. She died about an hour later. Witnesses identified Brice as the shooter. The victim was identified as one of his cousins, Sacouya Starquez Jonquila Brice.

While investigating those cases, Deputies received information that another shooting occurred shortly after 10 p.m. in the City of Bradenton at 4800 55th Street West. BPD officers arrived on the scene and learned that Brice shot an adult female victim before fleeing the area. She later died at a local hospital. Deputies later learned that Brice had shot Charel Carter, 31, the new partner of one of his ex-girlfriends.

It was later learned that it was the residence of his ex-girlfriend, though it was her new partner, Charel Carter.

MCSO issued a statewide BOLO for Brice’s vehicle, and multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in tracking Brice to Hamilton County, near the state line. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Brice was pulled over by Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies. He immediately opened fire upon exiting the vehicle. Deputies returned fire, killing Brice. No deputies were injured in the shootout.

Manatee Homicide detectives learned that Brice was traveling to Georgia with the intent to kill another ex-girlfriend.

Prior to the first murder, Brice visited Palmetto Trace apartments in Palmetto, where his sister and the mother of one of his "many children" were. Brice told the ex-girlfriend he had to kill her but was successfully talked down by his sister.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells said that Brice had multiple warrants and cases for violent crimes, including domestic violence with strangulation.