LAKE WALES, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office says it has arrested 18-year-old Bellamia Sperandio and 20-year-old Marshall Hayes in the shooting of a 15-year-old on Tuesday afternoon.
Deputies say the investigation began with a 911 call about shots fired in the area of Hampstead Place in Lake Wales where they found the teen with gunshot wounds and airlifted him to an area hospital where he is now in stable condition.
As for the cause? The sheriff's office said Sperdino was meeting up with the teen shot to sell him eight grams of marijuana when an altercation began. That's when her boyfriend Marshall Hayes, who drove her to make the sale, began firing several shots at the teen, according to a press release.
While investigating, deputies say they found the loaded handgun and surveillance video of the duo's car, which they used to track Sperandio back to her home where she was placed under arrest for an outstanding warrant.
While in custody, she admitted to discussing selling marijuana to the teen but denied being in the area where he was shot, according to the sheriff's office.
Detectives said Hayes was placed under arrest after admitting to the shooting.
"There are still people out there calling the possession and sale of marijuana a 'low-level, non-violent crime.' Tell that to this 15-year-old child's mother," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "He is lucky to be alive. Hopefully, he will fully recover, and the suspects who shot him will go to prison."
Hayes faces attempted murder, discharging a firearm from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of a person, tampering with evidence and drug-related charges. Sperandio is facing charges for an active warrant she had for threats to inflict serious bodily harm on a law enforcement officer, as well as accessory after the fact of a felony, conspiracy to sell marijuana, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest.
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