TAMPA, Fla. — Two men have been arrested in connection to a deadly shooting back in October 2022 that killed a 19-year-old in Tampa, police said in a new statement Thursday.
Disco Leon Short, Jr., 19, and Tyquan Odom, 20, were arrested and are now facing charges of robbery with a firearm and first-degree murder, according to a Tampa Police Department news release.
The incident started back at 11:28 p.m. on Oct. 19 when Tampa police officers responded to a ShotSpotter notification of gunshots in the area of E. Wilder Avenue.
After three minutes, a 911 call came in about a person shot and seeking help near the same area of the reported shooting. Officers found the victim, a 19-year-old man, once on the scene.
The man was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Officers were able to find the shooting scene, which was only a short distance from where the 19-year-old was found.
According to the police department, a Glock handgun, ammunition magazine and spent shell casing in the roadway. Another group of shell casings was found in a nearby yard.
"Witness statements and evidence led detectives to identify Disco Leon Short, Jr. and Tyquan Odom as suspects in the case," the release reads, in part.
The investigation revealed that the two men planned to meet with the 19-year-old at the location with an escape route already in mind. Short had a gun and positioned himself in a place to cover with "an obvious intent to use force to facilitate the robbery," police explained.
Odom eventually stole the teen's property and ran away. Short then went on to shoot him.
After figuring out what happened, detectives were able to determine that a similar incident happened back in September 2022 with a robbery in the same area.
There was a reported exchange of gunfire after a failed drug deal.
"Detectives compared evidence collected in the Sept. 28 robbery with evidence from the October homicide investigation, which linked Short to both cases," the release said.
In this case, Short was charged with robbery with a firearm and shooting at or into a vehicle.
Both men are currently being held at Orient Road Jail.
