NEWS

Cypress Lake Middle basketball player shot 3 times in Dunbar

Michael Braun

MBRAUN@NEWS-PRESS.COM

DO YOU HAVE TIPS?
Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS
Text your tips to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637) Keyword FMPD
Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Respect LEaphart, left, and her sister, Luxury Vance, 12. Vance is in good condition after being shot three times Sunday morning.

Luxury Vance, 12, is in good condition at an area hospital after the Cypress Lake Middle School basketball player was shot three times early Sunday morning on a Dunbar street surrounded by family members.

Sarah Blanks, the pre-teen's aunt, said Luxury was sitting under a large white tent with other family members at the aunt's home on Fountain Street when someone she described as a young man with a gun came from the north end of the street and started shooting around 12:45 a.m.

"He shot into the group. She was the only one who got shot," Blanks said."I don't think he was targeting her."

Sources close to the family said Luxury was shot twice in the back and once in the arm.

Blanks said the tent had been up since Easter and Luxury and several of her young relatives and other family members were sitting around talking when the shooting happened.

"A lot of the children were over there. It could have been worse," she said.

"Our babies are being traumatized by all these shootings," she said. "These babies were throwing up and couldn't sleep the rest of the night." Blanks was referencing the shooting death last year of Andrew Faust Jr., 5, killed by gunfire at his Dunbar home. No one has been charged in the crime.

Luxury Vance, 12, was shot three times early Sunday morning outside her aunt's house, pictured, on the 1800 block of Fountain Street in Fort Myers.

Shirley Lias, Luxury's grandmother, spoke to The News-Press at Healthpark, where she was sitting vigil for the injured girl.

"What kind of a heart do you have that you can look at a 12-year-old, a female. You have to be the biggest coward that every lived," she said, sobbing. "To shoot a 12-year-old baby."

Lias asked what she could have done to have saved her granddaughter or if everyone has to stay locked up in their homes to avoid getting shot.

"Someone has to pay, justice has to be done," she said. "Not just for Luxury. Who will be the next baby? Not just Luxury, but Andrew. There's other kids. Who will be in my seat tomorrow? Next week?"

Lias said she wont rest until she finds out who did the crime. "Every chance I get I'll fight to find out who shot my granddaughter," she vowed.

Blanks said Luxury had been dropped off by her sister, Respect Leaphart, before midnight to be with family. She said Luxury was excited to be there anticipating the arrival Monday of her cousin who was recovering from a medical procedure in a Tampa hospital.

The Fort Myers Police Department responded to Fountain Street shortly after 12:45 a.m. Sunday in reference to the shooting. Lee County Emergency Medical Service transported the victim to Lee Memorial Hospital as a trauma alert.

"The preliminary investigation suggests the child was not the intended target. We are working tirelessly to solve this senseless crime," said police spokesperson Lieutenant Victor Medico.

A spokesman for the Lee Memorial Health System said Luxury was in good condition at Healthpark Hospital where she had been taken shortly after she was shot. Blanks said the girl had undergone surgery earlier.

Blanks said Luxury is a good young lady and talented basketball player and was the equal of her sister Leaphart, a well-known and well-regarded basketball player who has committed to University of South Florida on a basketball scholarship. "They said she might be better than Respect," Blanks said.

Vance was listed in school information as one of the basketball team's leaders for the coming year.

The girl's step-grandfather, Joe Lias, said that she has never been in any trouble.

"She is a good kid, always smiling," he said.

Blanks said there are too many people with guns around. "There are so many kids running about with guns and the police don't do anything," she said. "They never catch nobody."

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective James Langton of the Fort Myers Police Department at 321-7700, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS or text message C-R-I-M-E-S (274637) Keyword FMPD. Anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the offender may be eligible for a reward up to $5,000. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Connect with this reporter: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook) @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter)