Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Man fatally shot while grilling, suspect arrested
A dispute during a cookout in Pompano Beach sparked the fatal shooting of a 46-year-old man by a person he “grew up” with, according to investigators.
Trevor Mitchell, 46, died Thursday night and Donel Bostick, also 46, was identified Friday morning by the Broward Sheriff’s Office as the man who shot and killed him.
Bostick was taken into custody after he fled the shooting scene in Pompano Beach and then crashed on Interstate-95 near the exit to Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said.
Mitchell had been barbecuing at 220 N.W. 15 Place in Pompano Beach, near Apollo Park, when he was shot about 7:30 p.m. after he and Bostick got into an argument, according to investigators.
Mitchell died at the shooting scene, according to Pompano Beach Fire Rescue. Mitchell’s aunt, Darrie Bibb, of Pompano Beach, said her nephew and Bostick had attended Ely High School together. She said Mitchell had been barbecuing chicken and ribs as a courtesy for another family who was preparing to bury a relative Saturday. What sparked the shooting, however, remains a mystery.
Bibb said her family was still reeling from the loss.
Family members said Mitchell had served in the Marines during Desert Storm in the Gulf War and had been stationed in Hawaii, where his two sons are living. Bibb said her nephew worked for the Postal Service for 20 years and was currently working for Broward County Transit.
Mitchell had been living with another aunt, Bibb’s sister, Janice Rolle. Rolle married into the famous Rolle family, whose matriarch was Esther Rolle, the actress of “Good Times” fame.
Janice Rolle said Mitchell left her house two hours before the shooting. She heard the gunshots coming from down the street. Minutes later, she got a call from a friend.
Rolle doesn’t know what the two men were arguing about but “whatever it was, [it was] senseless what was done to him.”
Bostick was apprehended amid a massive law enforcement presence involving Fort Lauderdale police, the Florida Highway Patrol and the sheriff’s office at the I-95 southbound on-ramp at Davie Boulevard where he crashed Thursday night.
“The suspect initially did not want to get out of his vehicle,” said Joy Oglesby, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman. “There was a shot fired, however he was not shooting at law enforcement officers. He was finally coaxed out of his vehicle and taken into custody.”