Report: Victim shook hands with suspect before shooting
The Lantana man was shot moments later and died at the hospital.
LANTANA — A Lantana man shot to death late Sunday outside a convenience store spoke to one of the suspects and shook his hand moments before he was gunned down in an alleyway, according to an arrest report.
McIntosh Pierre-Paul, 25, of Lake Worth, and Jean Mary Marcherno, 20, of suburban Boynton Beach, appeared in court Wednesday morning and were ordered held without bail on charges that include first-degree murder.
Marcherno is accused of firing the shot that killed Justin VanMeter, a 28-year-old father of a 3-month-old son. VanMeter may have been robbed for the $100 in tip money he received after working a shift as a server at a Cracker Barrel in Boynton Beach.
Cracker Barrel officials were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
Surveillance video obtained from the Hypoluxo Food Market just outside the town limits shows VanMeter walking into the convenience store at Hypoluxo Road and San Castle Boulevard on Sunday about 10:45 p.m. and counting his money at the counter, the report states.
VanMeter is seen shaking hands with Marcherno, then speaking to him again outside the store. The report states the video shows no sign of an altercation or argument between the men before VanMeter walks away into an alleyway east of the store.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office, Marcherno hops into the passenger seat of a white Mazda that is driven by Pierre-Paul, who follows VanMeter into the alleyway.
A muzzle flash is seen just before the Mazda emerges from the alleyway and heads east toward San Castle Boulevard.
VanMeter walked back to the front of the store where he is found asking for help and saying he can’t breathe, the report said. VanMeter was taken to Delray Medical Center and died about 11:15 p.m.
PBSO learned the identities of Marcherno and Pierre-Paul through law enforcement officers
hours before storms form to provide cooling, we’ve stayed close to or at 90 degrees for several hours in the afternoon and even into the early evening.”
The normal overnight low temperatures from midJune to mid-July are 74 to 75 degrees. The average since June 23 has been closer to 80 — a bump aided by easterly winds picking up heat from the ocean.
“Ever since we started the streak of 90s, there hasn’t been much shower and thunderstorm coverage,” said Dave Samuhel, a senior meteorologist with Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather. “If you look back, the coolest it’s been was 77 degrees on June 6, and we had 4 inches of rain that day.”
Molleda blames the dearth of late-day storms on a strong Bermuda High sitting north of Florida.
The Bermuda High is one of several subtropical high-pressure systems around the globe. It dominates in the summer, expanding and moving west toward the U.S. Its winter home is more to the east, where it is also called the Azores High.
The clockwise spin of the high means that when it’s sitting farther north, east winds are sent into South Florida.
“This wind pattern tends to keep most of the afternoon showers and thunderstorms inland and along the west coast of Florida,” Molleda said.
It does favor morning showers along the east coast, but they aren’t as numerous as the afternoon storms and don’t provide significant cooling.
Florida is unique nationwide for its afternoon sea breeze-initiated thunderstorms because winds come ashore on both coasts, sometimes colliding in the middle of the state or pushing showers to either side depending on strength. The Bermuda High can influence those winds and where thunderstorms form.
“A lot of times in Florida you have to look at the steering flow and what the winds are doing at 10,000 to 15,000 feet,” Samuhel said. “An easterly flow means showers on the west coast. If you get a westerly flow, they will happen on the east coast.”
Today’s rain chances in Palm Beach County are 50 percent to 60 percent with some strong thunderstorms in the afternoon as the remnants of Tropical Depression 4 move through. Sustained east winds up to 16 mph with gusts as high as 21 mph are also possible.
“Another reason it’s been so hot: This is one of the first times we’ve had a tropical wave embedded in the easterly flow,” Samuhel said. “We should have seen a couple by now.”