PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – A 59-year-old woman shot to death outside Pinellas Park City Hall had just finished practicing with the city's orchestra group.
Caroline Morton-Hicks was at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center before she walked over to the parking lot around 10 p.m. Monday, Feb, 12, near city hall, according to a news release.
Witnesses told police there then was some sort of argument between Morton-Hicks and the suspect. She tried to run away but was shot and killed.
It's unclear what the argument was about or whom it was with.
Morton-Hicks played the trombone with the Pinellas Park Civic Orchestra, according to the group's website.
A neighbor of Morton-Hicks' knew something was wrong when he saw detectives streaming in and out of her home early Tuesday afternoon.
"Oh my Lord," John Meyers said as he learned of what had happened. "I just can’t believe it because the lady was such, she was just such a nice, quiet, very friendly person.”
Meyers said Morton-Hicks had moved in about six months prior but in that short time had left quite an impression: always warm and welcoming.
He says she was an avid kayaker and biker. She wasn't married but her son came to visit often and Meyers believed she had an older daughter too. Morton-Hicks' son was seen Tuesday walking through the home with investigators but did not come outside to speak with reporters.
10News learned Morton-Hicks had also been a member of the Dunedin Music Society where the band's general director Stephen P. Brown said she, like her fellow musicians, performed to make life better, brighter for others. Now one of their own had been a victim of the violence they try to help audiences escape from, he said.
Pinellas Park police did not have a suspect description or information as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Investigators are looking at available footage from surveillance cameras in the parking lot and nearby businesses.
The investigation is ongoing.
10News reporter Beau Zimmer was quickly on the scene Monday:
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