BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Fort Pierce man faces a charge of first-degree murder after his girlfriend's body was found along a Central Florida road in early November.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday the arrest of Travion Dean, 22, of Fort Pierce in the shooting death of 20-year-old, Aniya Sheppard.
The victim's body was found in the early morning hours of Nov. 4 in unincorporated West Melbourne.
The investigation began when deputies responded to the area of Eber Boulevard near Buddy Drive at about 6:40 a.m. after a deputy was alerted by a resident that there appeared to be a body lying just off the road.
When deputies arrived, they found Sheppard dead at the scene with a gunshot wound.
The sheriff's office said their investigation revealed that the victim and Dean — who had been in a prior romantic relationship — were staying in a room at the Extended Stay America motel located on U.S. Route 192 in West Melbourne.
Investigators said the couple left the motel together in the early morning hours of Nov. 4 after being picked up by a ride-share service, who dropped them off in the area of Eber Road and Hollywood Boulevard.
Agents said they were able to obtain surveillance video in the area that confirmed the couple were together in the area near the time of the shooting.
The sheriff's office said they were also able to obtain other evidence to substantiate the couple were together at the time of the incident.
Agents said they also learned that Dean contacted another ride-share service shortly after the shooting, which picked him up on Minton Road and drove him back to the motel alone.
They said Dean was later recorded on video leaving the hotel carrying personal property that belonged to Sheppard.
Dean was arrested Jan. 2 in Fort Lauderdale after he re-entered the U.S. from Jamaica.
"The day he was arrested, which happened to be his birthday, ... we were advised by U.S. Customs that he was coming back to the U.S.," Tod Goodyear with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office said several surveillance videos, along with a social media post by the victim, helped investigators piece together what happened the night the woman died.
"All the way when he returns to the motel and leaves again with some of her personal property, we were almost able to put a timeline even getting some audio from a video where we heard the gunshots," Goodyear said.
Court records show that after the shooting, Dean allegedly logged into Sheppard's Instagram account and sent a message to her sister in an attempt to lay the blame on someone else.
A family member of Sheppard, who didn't want to be identified, told WPTV that they were relieved that someone had been arrested in her killing.
Dean faces a charge of first-degree premeditated murder and is being held at the Brevard County jail without bond.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact Agent Kevin Morris of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office at (321) 633-8413.
