Prosecutors seek death penalty against twin brothers in Altamonte shooting
Christopher and Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez Jr. turn 20 on Thursday
August 5, 2014|By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
SANFORD — Christopher and Manuel Rodriguez Jr. are twin brothers, born three minutes apart nearly 20 years ago. They grew up together in Altamonte Springs and are practicing Jehovah's Witnesses.
If prosecutors have their way, both will wind up on death row in a few months after a daring, spur-of-the-moment shooting in broad daylight Jan. 20 on one of the busiest stretches of road in Central Florida: State Road 436 less than a half-mile west of Interstate 4.
There were more than a dozen eyewitnesses, according to newly released records, and the slaying was captured by a surveillance video camera a few dozen yards away.
What it shows are tiny, frantic figures dashing back and forth along the side of the road. One collapses in the street. Another jumps into the passenger side of a small car, which then pulls away.
Carl Andrade is one of the eyewitnesses. He told Altamonte Springs police that he heard gunfire, then pulled alongsidethe wounded victim lying in the road: Tevin Demetrius Davis, a 22-year-old man with a history of drug arrests.
Andrade told police that he then watched the Rodriguez brothers' gold Chevy Cobalt pull alongside Davis and a passenger lean out and shoot him four more times.
What the video does not show, and Andrade did not see, were all the drugs and money that police said they later found in the brothers' car. They also found four guns.
A few hours later, Altamonte Springs police Detective Glenn Cobb asked Christopher Rodriguez who owned them. A video captured his answer:
"They're mine," he said.
Why did you have four in the car? Cobb asked.
"'Cause [I] sell drugs, marijuana," Christopher Rodriguez said.
2 religious young men
"It's amazing. They have no prior record at all," said Assistant Public Defender Jeff Dowdy, Christopher Rodriguez's lawyer.
The brothers were born in Atlantic City, N.J., according to their mother, Iwona Dobrzynska, a native of Poland, who testified at a June 20 bond hearing for Christopher.
She raised them in Central Florida.
"They were normal kids," Dowdy said. "They liked to fish. … Went to school at Lyman High School."
They dropped out but earned high-school diplomas in 2011 at YouthBuild, an alternative high school for at-risk students in Seminole County, where they were taught home-construction skills.
"They were respectful and very appreciative, day in and day out," Kathy Day, a YouthBuild volunteer, wrote in a letter that begged prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.
"Both boys seemed to be starving for the attention and care they got," she wrote.
Both are practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, according to jail records. Friends say they've started Bible study groups in the Seminole County Jail but because of security concerns cannot hold them together.
Their brother, Matthew Dobrzynska, has sent them religious materials and encouraged them to strengthen their relationship with God.
"In time," he wrote to Christopher a week after the shooting, "you will enjoy the more expansive freedom that lies ahead for Jehovah's loyal ones."
Chance encounter
Davis, the slain man, had a troubled past. He was first arrested at age 12 for burglary, according to state records, and the next year pleaded no contest to taking a weapon to school in Orange County.
He had a dozen arrests, many because of marijuana, records show.
A few weeks before the shooting, he had robbed Manny Rodriguez, Dowdy said.
Their encounter that day on S.R. 436 happened by chance, records indicate. The brothers were driving by about 1:30 p.m. when they spotted Davis walking to an Amscot check-cashing office with a friend.
Davis grabbed his cellphone, called his brother and told him to bring a gun, Steve Conklin, who was walking alongside him, told police.
Christopher Rodriguez got out of the car and tried to shoot Davis, but his gun misfired, Conklin said. As Davis tried to run, the Cobalt cut him off, and then there was gunfire from both the car and the brother who was on foot. That's when Davis went down.
The car drove a short distance away, made a U-turn, stopped alongside Davis, and there was more gunfire, Conklin told police.
The brothers were captured a few minutes later after a pickup driven by a Seminole County deputy cut them off, causing a crash.
Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez jumped from the driver's seat and tried to run, but an officer shot him with a Taser. Authorities said they found $1,600 cash in his right front pocket and $500 more in his wallet.
Christopher Rodriguez stayed in the car. He was in the front passenger seat, near all four guns, according to prosecution records. Authorities found cocaine, marijuana, crystal meth and oxycodone on him, evidence logs show.
Also in the car were two caches of marijuana containing 60 grams, enough for about 120 joints.
During interrogation later that day, Manny Rodriguez asked for a lawyer and refused to answer questions.
His brother talked to detectives for half an hour, telling them he had fallen asleep and knew nothing about a shooting.
"I ain't got nothing else to say," Christopher Rodriguez added.
"It's shocking what they did," said Dowdy, the defense attorney. "We're going to have a tough time. Hopefully, we'll save their lives."
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