LEESBURG, FLA. – A suspect’s unusual fashion statement and a series of security cameras has led to his and a codefendant’s arrest for the murder of an 87-year-old man at a gas station.
Police have arrested Kenneth D. Bailey and Craig A. Stevenson Jr., both 22, in the slaying of Clarence H. Ervin on Sept. 28 in the 2100 block of West Main St. Police are searching for a third man but have not identified him.
The unusual fashion wear has been described in the probable cause affidavit as a “unique bright paint splatter design and a handprint on the front and back.”
Police located six security camera videos in the area and one cell phone view of three men walking down Thomas Avenue toward Main and finally to the Citgo. All were wearing ski masks and hoodies.
The man wearing the bright sweatshirt walked up to the driver’s side of the silver Buick and talked to Ervin for a few minutes, then pulled out a gun and shot him. The probable cause affidavit said one shot was fired, but the cell phone video seemed to record two shots. A single 9 mm shell casing was recovered by crime scene investigators. The affidavit said the shot passed through Ervin’s hand and struck him in the abdomen.
He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in stable but critical condition. Detectives were unable to talk to him because he was unconscious, at least initially, according to police.
Investigators got a huge break in the case when they found a witness who said she was “100 percent certain” that the man with the colorful sweatshirt in a security video was Steverson. She said he had the same build, and she said the other man was similar in height and weight to a man she knew as “Kenny Shaw.”
Detectives showed her a photo of Bailey and she identified him as Kenny.
She was also able to furnish outdoor security camera footage from December showing Craig wearing the same or identical sweatshirt. Detectives noticed the match in other videos.
She said Steverson and Kenny had been arrested for committing crimes together. Police checked their records and found that they had been arrested in a series of car burglaries in 2020. The State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges in those cases.
Bailey and Steverson are charged with premeditated murder and aggravated battery of a person older than 65 with a firearm.