TAMPA -- Investigators have no motive for an unsolved deadly shooting at Club Empire in Ybor City on Oct. 2, and no witnesses have come forward, Tampa police state in a search warrant filed this week.
Officers hope to find answers in the victim's cell phone records.
Leslie Jerome Jones Jr., a 20-year-old father of four, was shot in the head and died at the club.
A Club Empire bouncer was moving Jones away from another group of men "who appeared to be preparing to fight Jones when a shot rang out," according to the search warrant. "Jones fell to the floor where he died from a gunshot wound."
Patrons carried Jones' body from an upstairs dance floor, out of the dance club and to a parking lot, the search warrant says.
"Although this murder appears to be a random act of violence, it is unknown if Jones communicated through text messaging regarding who he may have been preparing to fight just before his death," the search warrant states. "Although the motive of this murder is not believed to be robbery Leslie Jones' phone ... was not recovered and its location is unknown at this time."
Jones' phone hadn't been recovered though at least Saturday, according to the search warrant. Police sought through the search warrant to get details about calls and text messages involving the phone.
Since the shooting, Club Empire, 1902 E. Seventh Ave., has closed under pressure from Tampa officials, business owners and neighbors.
Less than six weeks after the shooting, five other people were shot Tuesday outside Club Manilla at 2620 E. Seventh Ave. Those victims will survive, though one man was wounded seriously.
Tampa City Councilman Frank Reddick, who represents Ybor and East Tampa, led efforts to shut down Club Empire and now is looking at Club Manilla. At today's council meeting he plans to ask police to provide council members with a report on incidents at the longstanding business.
Copyright 2011 - Tampa Tribune, Fla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
