Second suspect arrested for 2017 Longboat murders at Zota resort

Longboat Key Police Department detectives arrested a suspect in connection to the Aug. 4, 2017, double homicide at Zota Beach Resort.

Courtesy image

On Jan. 12, detectives took 34-year-old Latoya Hanna into custody in St. Lucie County after a six-year investigation in collaboration with the Manatee County Homicide Investigative Unit and the FBI. 

Longboat Key detectives were assisted in the arrest by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.

Hanna was arrested and charged with felony murder and remains in custody in St. Lucie County Jail without bond. Felony murder is a capital offense punishable by life in prison.

On Aug. 9, 2017, Darryl Hanna Jr., a former part-time security guard at Zota and Latoya Hanna’s twin brother, was arrested and taken to Manatee County Jail without bond.

Hanna Jr. fell into a stroke-induced coma on Sept. 10, 2017, and later died. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of robbery. Police say Hanna took $900 from the hotel cash register. 

The victims were the hotel's 59-year-old night desk manager Timothy Hurley, and 51-year-old security guard Kevin Carter. 

The last homicide on Longboat Key prior to the 2017 case was in 2000. 

Anyone with more information on this case is asked to contact the Longboat Key Police Department at 941-316-1973 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.