Two Palm Beach County men are facing criminal charges in connection to a fatal shooting and vehicle crash that occurred in February at a busy Palm Beach Gardens intersection. Police arrested one of them more than 1,000 miles away in Texas.
Investigators have not identified the man who died Feb. 9 near Northlake Boulevard and North Military Trail, except to say he was 42 years old and driving a red Ford van. They also have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.
City police took 29-year-old Keondre Sissnet of West Palm Beach into custody April 12 on a charge of being an accessory after the fact to the homicide.
On March 29, the U.S. Marshals Service and local police apprehended 26-year-old Akeem Eliah Rivers in Houston. Rivers faces charges of premeditated murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Court records show that Rivers, who lives in Lantana, appeared for a hearing at the Palm Beach County Jail on March 23 in a separate weapons possession case. He was released on a $25,000 bond. It was not immediately clear when he left the county for the Texas city.
Investigators say six shots fired at red Ford van in Palm Beach Gardens
According to the arrest report, Palm Beach Gardens police responded shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 to a crash involving four vehicles at Northlake and Military. Officers found the 42-year-old in the driver’s seat unresponsive and with a gunshot wound to his head. The man died at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
Witnesses reported hearing at least three gunshots. One woman described seeing a dark-colored vehicle pull alongside the van and its driver stick a gun out the window. Investigators determined someone fired six shots.
Police identified a black Kia as the suspect vehicle after reviewing surveillance-camera footage from a nearby gas station. An officer spotted the vehicle the following day in Boynton Beach and attempted to stop it. The vehicle fled and pulled into the yard of a home on Northwest 11th Avenue. Officers took the driver into custody while a passenger, later identified as Rivers, fled into the home.
Officers surrounded the home and all occupants eventually exited, including Rivers and Sisnett. Both were arrested in connection to fleeing from Boynton Beach police. When asked his whereabouts on the afternoon of Feb. 9, Sisnett told investigators he worked until 3 or 3:30 that afternoon and went to friend’s house, where he laid down until later that evening.
When asked if he traveled to Northlake Boulevard, he declined to answer any additional questions without an attorney. Rivers refused to answer any questions, police said.
Video captured men in Westlake 25 minutes before shooting
Investigators say surveillance-camera video placed Rivers and Sisnett at a county tax collector’s office in Westlake on the afternoon in question.
Rivers was seen climbing into the driver’s seat as the men left, and the shooting incident at Northlake and Military occurred about 25 minutes later, matching the amount of time it would take to drive between the two locations.
During a hearing Thursday at the Palm Beach County Jail, Circuit Judge Kirk Volker set Sisnett’s bond at $100,000 and ordered that he be placed on in-house arrest with a GPS monitor upon his release. Volker appointed Sisnett a public defender. As a matter of policy, the county Public Defender’s Office does not comment on open cases.
It was not clear Thursday when Rivers will be returned to Palm Beach County.