Manatee County man kills 3, including his mom and cousin, before dying in shootout: MCSO
BRADENTON, Fla. - A Bradenton man went on a shooting spree in Manatee County on Monday night, killing three women, including his mother and cousin, and attempting to kill two of his ex-girlfriends, according to authorities.
"He seemed to have an agenda. He knew exactly who he wanted to kill, and he did not have a hard time locating them," said Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells.
Javontee Brice, 28, traveled to several different homes late Monday night to kill various loved ones before he almost fled the state to kill an ex-girlfriend in Georgia where deputies tracked him down and killed him in a shootout, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Previous mugshot for Javontee Brice
According to Wells, just before 9 p.m., Brice traveled to the Palmetto Trace apartments where his sister and ex-girlfriend – as well as the mother of one of his children – were.
Once there, he threatened to kill the ex-girlfriend, Wells said. His sister was able to talk Brice out of killing the ex-girlfriend, and eventually, he left.
At 9:17 p.m., Brice went to the Motel 6 at 660 67th Street Circle East in Bradenton where his mother Titimysha Scott, his mother's boyfriend, and two younger sisters were staying.
Wells said he walked into the room they were staying in, told his 48-year-old mother, ‘I’m sorry,' to which she responded, ‘What did you do?’ and then he shot and killed her.
Wells said he walked into the room they were staying in, told his 48-year-old mother, ‘I’m sorry,' to which she responded, ‘What did you do?’ and then he shot and killed her.
Christina Valentin said her husband rushed to help.
"Once he opened that door it was just sheer pandemonium, chaos. People yelling, screaming. ‘He shot my mom he shot my mom.’ Somebody call 911 somebody get help," said Valentin.
Aerials of the Motel 6 where deputies say Javontee Brice shot and killed his mother.
At around 9:40 p.m., Brice went to the 900 block of 26th Street Court East in Palmetto where one of his cousins, 29-year-old Sacouya Brice, had been at a cookout.
"I heard a pop. I seen two people out there, and they’re going, ‘Oh my God, they’re on the ground,’" said neighbor John Seng.
She was getting into her vehicle to leave when Brice shot her. Palmetto police attempted life-saving measures on the woman, according to MCSO, but she died about an hour later at a local hospital.
"This family is devastated. This is going to be a very difficult thing for them to overcome," said Wells.
Brice then traveled to Bradenton at around 10:04 p.m. to the 4800 block of 51st Street East where another of his ex-girlfriends lived with her new partner, 31-year-old Charl Carter. There, he shot and killed the new partner, Wells said.
Wells said that investigators learned that after the shooting at 51st Street East, he was headed to Georgia to kill another ex-girlfriend, leading them to issue a statewide BOLO for his vehicle.
Deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, near the Florida-Georgia state line, located the car and stopped him.
Map of the three different shootings in Manatee County
Wells said Brice immediately got out of his car and fired at deputies. They returned fire, shooting and killing him at around 1:30 a.m., according to MCSO.
According to the sheriff's office, no deputies were injured in the exchange of gunfire. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be assisting in the investigation.
Wells said Brice was traveling with a woman who was in the car at the time of the shootout. They are interviewing her to learn more.
Court records show Brice had struggled with his mental health and two risk protection orders were filed against him in 2021 and 2023. In them, it states he tried to take his own life at least twice.
Manatee deputies are trying to piece together what was going through his mind, the night of his rampage.
"That's what we know right now. We don't know a motive," Wells said. "We don't know what set this man off. We don't know why he chose to kill his loved ones. And we may never know, but we're going to continue to investigate."
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