VERO BEACH, Fla. — An arrest has been made in the murder of a man in Vero Beach.
On August 8, 2021 deputies received a "man down" call at 5th Street SW.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they located Justin Bechtold, 24, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Bechtold was transported to a hospital where he later died.
Through their investigation, deputies learned that Bechtold would purchase marijuana from Dukarai Lee Thomas, 24.
Deputies began searching for Thomas and located his vehicle, covered and hidden, in Gifford. They learned that Thomas fled to the Tallahassee area.
On April 19, 2022, detectives obtained a warrant for Thomas for first degree murder.
Thomas was taken into custody in Tallahassee the following day.
"This is another senseless, tragic murder over marijuana. This is a situation where 24-year-old Justin Bechtold should still be with us," Sheriff Flowers said. "For whatever reason, and we still don't have specifics on this as to why Dukarai decided to murder this man in his own driveway over a marijuana transaction. (It's) just an absolute and senseless tragedy and so many times we hear people talk about marijuana is, you know, a victimless crime and should be legal, all these things. Here's another murder. How many murders do we have to have in Indian River County over marijuana before people realize the deadly consequences of this?"
