Homicide Arrest Made After Investigators Say Self-Defense Claim Was Undermined by Discarded Evidence

PENSACOLA, Fla. (BuzzReport)— A homicide investigation in Escambia County has led to the arrest of a woman after investigators determined that evidence at the scene did not support her claim that she fatally shot her boyfriend in self-defense.

The investigation began Monday, August 31, when Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a hotel along Pensacola Boulevard following a report involving a shooting.

According to investigators, Ashanti Brown told deputies that she had been involved in an argument with her boyfriend at an apartment on Pine Forest Road. Brown reportedly claimed the shooting occurred in self-defense.

She also told deputies that after the shooting, she drove the victim’s vehicle from the apartment to the hotel.

Deputies then went to the Pine Forest Road apartment to investigate Brown’s account. Inside, they discovered a 26-year-old man deceased from a gunshot wound.

What investigators found at the apartment quickly raised questions about Brown’s version of events.

Evidence Raises Questions About Self-Defense Claim

As detectives worked to reconstruct what happened, physical evidence collected during the investigation reportedly did not support Brown’s claim that the shooting was justified self-defense.

Investigators also determined that evidence connected to the case had been intentionally discarded.

One of the most significant pieces of evidence recovered during the investigation was a doorbell camera. Detectives determined that the camera had been removed from the scene and later located it inside a storm drain in neighboring Santa Rosa County.

The discovery added another layer to an already serious investigation, as detectives worked to determine what happened inside the apartment and why evidence was allegedly removed and discarded.

Authorities say the recovery of the camera, along with other evidence gathered during the investigation, contributed to the decision to take Brown into custody.

Brown was arrested and charged with homicide and tampering with evidence.

Investigation Continues

Investigators will likely examine the physical evidence recovered from the apartment, the victim’s vehicle, the hotel and the location where the doorbell camera was found as they work to establish what happened before, during and after the shooting.

The case remains under investigation as detectives continue working to establish the full sequence of events leading up to the fatal shooting.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has not indicated that the investigation is over, and additional details could be released as detectives continue reviewing evidence and information surrounding the shooting.