CRESTVIEW, Fla. — A suspect has been jailed on a murder charge after a man was found shot to death early Wednesday along a roadway north of Crestview, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
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The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) said investigators identified a suspect within hours of the shooting and took him into custody the same evening.
Kavari McQueen, 20, of Crestview, is being held in the Leon County Jail on an open count of murder, the OCSO announced.
Investigators said Mr McQueen and the victim were inside a vehicle together when they became involved in an altercation shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday.
According to the OCSO, the confrontation is said to have escalated, and gunshots were fired.
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Investigators said the two individuals exited the vehicle and went into the roadway on Taylor Road off Lake Silver Road north of Crestview.
A short time later, a passing motorist reportedly spotted the victim’s body in the roadway and notified authorities.
Responding Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived and found the man dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators said the suspect had left the scene in the vehicle.
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Within less than 12 hours, investigators said they developed Mr McQueen as a suspect and located him in Tallahassee, where he was taken into custody around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Authorities also executed a search warrant at a home in the Crestview area on Wednesday evening as part of the ongoing investigation.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office expressed thanks to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the Tallahassee Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for assisting in the investigation.
