Documents: Fort Myers man killed transgender woman for outing him
Police reports indicate a man arrested in the fiery murder of a transgender woman may have been angry she outed him to the community.
Fort Myers police arrested Terry Lynn Brady, 45, of Fort Myers, on Tuesday, saying he shot Yaz'min Shancez, 31, then lit her on fire and left her to die behind a Budget store off Fowler Street on June 19.
Brady was arrested after a month-long investigation. Brady was charged with second-degree murder. Shancez, known in police reports as Eddie James Owens, her birth name, was found by a Budget employee when he was taking his trash out to a garbage bin behind the store, according to the arrest report.
A neighbor who lived across from Brady at the Salamanca Apartment complex, said Brady always seemed nice enough.
"He worked, I think, all the time," Stephen Bellman said. "I saw him leaving early, but he always said 'hi.'"
Shannon Adams, Shancez's stepmother, said she was happy the investigation led to an arrest.
It gives the family closure, Adams said. Shancez' sister was killed a year to the day before Shancez' slaying. That murder hasn't been solved.
"We'll be in court and see what happens," Adams said. "Hopefully, they give (Brady) the worst penalty he can get. You don't do that to an animal."
The police report paints a grisly scene. Shancez had gunshot wounds to her chest, and a portion of her body was burned. Detectives wrote she was wearing two shirts, numerous bracelets, false eyelashes and flip flops, but she was missing her underwear and pants.
Brady has 35 arrests and citations in Lee County, most of them for driving violations. Others include arrests for open alcohol, sale and possession of cocaine, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and solicitation/lewdness. He had pleaded no contest to soliciting another for lewdness in 2010.
The arrest affidavit purports that Brady paid Shancez for sexual favors. According to a friend of Shancez, who spoke to police, she drove Shancez to a gas station in Bonita Springs to meet with Brady a couple of months ago. Shancez referred to Brady as her "baby daddy." The friend's name was redacted in the police report.
"That my Baby Baddy (sic), he loves me," the friend told police Shancez said.
Video surveillance from area businesses show a Chevy Malibu driving around multiple times the night of the murder. Video at one station shows him buying $5 worth of gas. The report says Shancez's bra was doused in gasoline. Surveillance at another gas station shows Brady was repeatedly rubbing a part of the roof where investigators believe there was a bullet hole.
The Malibu was rented by Brady's girlfriend and was found at a rental shop in Lauderdale Lakes. Texts from Brady's cellphone led detectives to believe that Brady had asked a car repair worker from Bonita Springs to fix the hole in the roof. One of the two guns found in Brady's bedroom were a match for five of the six bullets recovered at the crime scene and from Shancez's body.
According to Shancez's friend, Shancez had posted on Facebook that Brady "liked to be with guys."
Shancez was booked into the Lee County Jail six times, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Those arrests included charges of trespassing (2002), failure to appear in court (2004, 2013), violation of probation (2006), prostitution (2009) and cocaine possession (2011).
During Brady's interview with police, he never admitted to a sexual relationship with Shancez, according to the report.
Adams, Shancez's stepmother, said Shancez posted online commentary calling Brady gay.
Michelle Hudson, president of Pride Center SWFL, said it's never appropriate to out someone for being gay.
"It's up to each individual person how they want to be known for their sexual preferences," Hudson said. "The fact (Brady) was afraid to be outed says a lot about our society and how far we have to go."
*The term (sic) is used to indicate a quote was transcribed exactly as stated and is not to be taken as an error of transcription.