ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two men who went on a crime spree back in October are facing additional charges in St. Petersburg, the police department announced Wednesday.
Jermaine Bennett, 27, and Savonne Morrison, 18, have been charged in the beating of a 79-year-old man with a tire iron on 22nd Avenue North on Oct. 20, 2022, the agency said. They were already arrested for the killing of a bicyclist with a tire iron in Clearwater that happened the same night.
Bennett and Morrison have each been charged with first-degree attempted murder for the attack on the 79-year-old man.
The investigation began just before midnight on Oct. 20 when officers responded to the 2400 block of 22nd Avenue North on a report of an attack on a person over 65 years old. Police found the man with several cuts and lacerations.
According to authorities, the man was walking home from work along 22nd Avenue when two men in a car stopped him and hit him many ties with a tire iron before driving away.
John Budenas was the 79-year-old man hurt in the attack. He said he walked more than a block to call 911 after the attack.
"A car pulled over to the right-hand side of me," Budenas said. "And two people got out of the car, one walked off, and the other one walked to the back of the car. And he said, 'Do you know the area?' 'Well,' I said, 'I know what a little bit' and with that, he struck me."
The beatings didn't stop there though, according to authorities. At around 12:37 a.m. on Oct 21, police found 49-year-old Jeffrey "Jeff" Chapman dead on a Clearwater Beach sidewalk. He was riding his bike home at the time.
The next day, police arrested 26-year-old Jermaine Bennett after they say he admitted to the killing and "showed no remorse." He was charged with first-degree murder.
The following week on Oct. 25, police arrested Morrison and charged him with principal to first-degree murder.
Clearwater Police Deputy Chief Michael Walek called the killing a "senseless and horrendous" crime when the charges were initially announced back in November 2022. During the news conference, police shared videos that Bennett and Morrison reportedly took of each other smashing random cars with a metal tool in the Historic Uptown neighborhood of St. Pete.
Chapman's friends described him as a free spirit who loved to travel and had a soft spot for animals. He was from Bangor, Maine, but spent the fall and summer months on the beach in Clearwater.