Man accused of killing Orlando teen should have been in custody, state attorney says: 'A violent offender'

ORLANDO, Fla. - The family of 15-year-old Destin Webster-Thompson says they lost part of their world when Orlando police say a man shot and killed him.

The shooting happened Oct. 30 at The Village on Millenia Apartments on Millenia Boulevard. Since then, police have been working to find Destin's killer, but they didn't have to go far to find him.

Agardo Francois, 30, was booked into jail Monday after Orange County deputies accused him of threatening to kill a truck driver during an attempted robbery and is facing several charges.

Although investigators haven't said how they learned Francois is Destin's accused killer or shared any details about what led up to the shooting, Francois was served with an arrest warrant on Tuesday while in jail on those unrelated charges. 

"He's a violent offender, and these are the type of violent offenders that we need to keep off our streets," Ninth Judicial Circuit Court State Attorney Andrew Bain said Wednesday.

But Bain says Francois should've never been out on the streets in the first place.

Back in August 2021, Francois was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Court records show he never bonded out and was sentenced in September 2022 to only 51 weeks in jail after taking a plea deal.

According to court documents, the minimum sentence, considering Francois' prior convictions, which include attempted robbery with a firearm and burglary of a dwelling, should've been around 36 months. 

"This is one of those cases that we talked about where the prior administration did not put forth the effort to prosecute minimum mandatory sentencing against violent offenders, and now we have bodies on our street, so I want to do whatever I can to prevent that from happening again," Bain said.

Destin was a student at Dr. Phillips High School and an athlete. Students FOX 35 spoke with Wednesday afternoon were thankful Francois was arrested.

"I feel like it's really good that he's not in the streets anymore, that finally he is arrested and paying for what he did because it was really, really wrong," a 10th-grader, who did want to be identified, said. "I hope he gets the sentence that he deserves and that whatever happens to him, he deserves it, to be honest."

Veronica Harvey, Destin's guardian, sent FOX 35 the following statement:

"This arrest hasn’t done anything but cause me to relive the day this all happened. This pain will never heal. Nothing that happens will ever heal this pain. [Francois'] arrest is wonderful news to hear, nonetheless, and his mother and I are beyond thankful for the arrest, but it won’t bring Destin back. He’ll never walk through the front door after school anymore. He will never play another basketball game again. He won’t be here for Christmas. He won’t be there for his graduation. He won’t be there for his siblings when they need him most.  His mother and I will never hear him say ‘Hey mom, hey ma, hi mommy.’ Those names mean everything to a mother, and we’ll never hear it from him again. He will never be able to live his full potential because it was taken from him. To know Destin was to love Destin. We didn’t just lose a child, a son, a brother, a cousin, a basketball player, a football player. We lost a part of our world no one can ever give back. The hurt to have to say, ‘May he Rest In Peace’ … it's just not fair."

Francois remained behind bars Wednesday evening. A judge denied him bond.