Man arrested in killing of football coach’s son
A 22-year-old man arrested in Orange County last week confessed to shooting a man to death Jan. 11 using a gun he stole days earlier, according to the Kissimmee Police Department.
Jaquari Walker is facing a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of Eric Pinellas Jr., the 30-year-old son of Osceola High School’s football coach, along with armed robbery, displaying a weapon during a felony and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Police had been looking for Walker for months following Pinellas’ death, after he was suspected of stealing a gun from the Apollo Inn in Kissimmee just days before the shooting.
Court records show Walker at that time was out from jail after being arrested for cocaine possession, and an affidavit said he passed money to Pinellas, an acquaintance, to bond him out, which didn’t happen.
“There was some animosity from [Pinellas] not bonding him out of jail, and he held that against Mr. Pinellas,” Deputy Chief Betty Holland told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “It was during the jail phone calls that some of that was expounded upon.”
After getting the gun, Walker met with Pinellas near the intersection of Bay and Cypress streets in the city’s north end, and shot him multiple times after a fight, according to an affidavit. Pinellas was found in a field when police arrived that night, telling them he didn’t know who shot him before dying of his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Walker stayed in Central Florida as police investigated the case, and was arrested March 8 after Orange County deputy sheriffs found him at a Dunkin Donuts in Orlando.
During his interview with
KPD detectives, Walker confessed to taking the gun, though he said it was “in exchange for narcotics,” an affidavit said.
Walker also admitted to shooting Pinellas while showing detectives a scar from a bite mark on his face he said he got during the fight.
He’s in the Osceola County Jail without bond.
Eric Pinellas Sr., the victim’s father and longtime coach of Osceola High’s football team, thanked detectives “for their tireless efforts in bringing the person responsible for the death of our son to justice.” Pinellas Jr. leaves behind a son and a daughter.
“It has definitely been a rough few months for our entire family and everyone who loved Eric,” Pinellas Sr. said. “Eric was an amazing young man with a bright future ahead of him who he was loved by many, and losing him in such a way to senseless violence is incomprehensible.”