FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Force Pierce man has been sentenced to life in prison with a 25-year mandatory minimum in the fatal shooting of a man in the city in 2020.
On Aug. 9, Circuit Judge Steven Levin sentenced Jabarie Junior Orelien, 33, in the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Eril Merius, of Fort Pierce, on March 5, 2020. Merium was shot in the 500 block of North Eighth Street, west of U.S. 1 and later died at a local hospital.
On June 2, a jury convicted Oreliien of first-degree murder and a felon in possession of a firearm. Levin imposed a 30-year sentence for the firearm conviction.
A witness told an investigator he heard an argument at a lot between 18th Street and 19th Street between Merius and Orelien. The witness said they had problems before.
Orelien reached in his waistband and pulled out a holster with a firearm and shot Merius, the witness said.
