SARASOTA, Fla. — A second person was arrested in connection to a Sarasota shooting that seriously injured an Auburn University football player and killed his brother.
Nicole Roberts, 29, was arrested on Friday for allegedly throwing the gun that was used in the shooting into a river. She is the girlfriend of Darryl Brookins Jr., 28, who was arrested for shooting Auburn running back Brian Battie and his brother, Tommie Battie IV.
The shooting happened in the early hours of May 18 outside the Hookah Lounge Marrkech parking lot on 17th Street. Brookins stood at a nearby store in the same shopping plaza when the brothers started walking toward him. Brookins and the brothers shot at each other, deputies said.
Brian Battie was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator after he was shot, according to his coach. Tommie Battie IV was pronounced dead at the scene, according to deputies.
After the exchange, Brookins reportedly ran off going east on 17th Street.
Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies said Roberts was caught on surveillance video driving a white Hyundai Elantra, which she rented, to leave the area near 17th Street. The car was later seen driving around a waterfront neighborhood in Manatee County.
Roberts was attempting to discard the gun into the water but since the residential community was tightly packed, there was no direct access to a waterfront without being noticed, according to her arrest affidavit.
The driver of the car was eventually seen walking onto a dock located behind a house in Bradenton and dropping the gun into the Manatee River. Deputies said the stature and body type of the female captured on video matched Roberts.
The car was later seen at an apartment complex along MacDill Avenue in Tampa about an hour after where Brookins was seen exiting the car. The two were seen leaving in the car again at about 6 a.m., according to the arrest affidavit.
Throughout the day that car was spotted at multiple places including Walgreens on University Parkway in Sarasota and the McDonald's near there. Roberts was seen buying first aid items such as wound closure strips and blood control spray at Walgreens, the affidavit reads.
On Thursday, detectives and deputies searched the area where Roberts allegedly discarded the gun and found a Glock 9mm.
She was charged with principal to second-degree murder with a firearm. She is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Brookins was charged with murder, attempted murder and as a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the sheriff's office.
Brian Battie played football at the University of South Florida for three seasons before transferring to Auburn. Tommie played football for Braden River High School’s varsity football team and graduated in 2018.