Jared Tyler Boone (Fort Meyers Police Department)
A 35-year-old man in Florida has been arrested for allegedly beating one of his roommates to death with a baseball bat in an attack that left “blood everywhere” throughout the home. Jared Tyler Boone was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of second-degree murder without premeditation, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Fort Meyers Police Department responded to a 911 call at about 6:49 p.m. on Thursday about an unconscious male at a home in the 3800 block of Broadway Avenue. The caller told the emergency dispatcher that one of his roommates — whom he identified as Boone — had “cut the unconscious male,” stating that there “was blood everywhere,” the document states.
Once there, first responders say they found Boone outside the apartment complex and noted he had blood on his hands. When asked if he was the person who was cut, Boone allegedly said he was not, saying that “he was the one who did the cutting.” He was also observed making “spontaneous utterances” by officers.
“Officers asked Boone if he came from [redacted address] and he confirmed that he had,” the affidavit states. “Officers asked him if he had been cut or if had done the cutting and he told them that he had demons in his head and the decedent approached him. Officers detained Boone and placed him in a patrol car.”
Police then found a “bloody bat” outside of the front door and asked Boone if he also struck his roommate with the bat. Boone responded by saying the victim “came up at (him) in a way that was suicidal and demeaning.”
Police entered the building and found the victim “laying on the floor, faceup (sic), inside of the apartment” and observed he was “surrounded by blood and had trauma to his face.”
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Homicide detectives arrived and spoke with several witnesses, including Boone’s third adult male roommate.
The roommate told investigators that only he, the victim, and Boone lived in the three-bedroom apartment for about a year and that they had met through Hope Clubhouse, a nonprofit organization aimed at providing resources and assistance for adults with mental health difficulties. The roommate allegedly said Boone and the victim had been “at each other” for a while but had never been violent with one another. He also believed that Boone may have stopped taking his medication for an undisclosed mental illness.
The surviving roommate said that earlier in the day, Boone had been “scanning” the victim and “saying stuff about salvation and Satan.” He said that in the afternoon, he was in his room when he heard Boone scream, “Get out of here Satan,” and then a loud “boom.” There was no arguing or dialogue prior to the “boom,” and the roommate thought Boone had just punched the wall, per police. But when he looked outside, he said he saw the victim “on the floor covered in blood” and called 911.
The roommate also confirmed that he and the others in the apartment kept a bat in the kitchen “for protection.”
Another person who lived in the apartment complex told police that Boone had recently come to her apartment and smashed a potted plant while talking about “rebuking the devil in the name of Jesus,” the document states. On the day of the slaying, that resident said they saw Boone on the side of the building washing what appeared to be blood from his face, hair, and hands while saying, “In the name of Jesus, I rebuke thee,” and “mark of the beast,” “mark of the devil.”
Boone is being held without bond and is due in court again on July 31.
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