Top Story - February: Second arrest made in Lakewood Ranch murder case

Manatee County Sheriff's Office detectives arrested a second suspect Feb. 24 in the fatal shooting of Alexander Cherp at Greenbrook Park on Feb. 4.

Lakewood Ranch's Alan Baily, 17, was arrested and charged with murder and armed robbery. Baily was arrested in the parking lot of the Home Depot store in the 2300 block of Cortez Road in Bradenton. Baily was bitten by a K-9 police dog after he resisted arrest.

A second suspect, Jose Hernandez, 19, was arrested on Feb. 18 and charged with robbery and murder.

Dave Bristow, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson, said on Monday detectives do not know why the suspected robbery attempt turned into a homicide, but they are investigating the incident as a possible “drug deal gone bad.”

“This was not a random incident,” Bristow said. “This person was a target."

An $8,000 reward had been offered for information leading to Baily's arrest.

Detectives believe Cherp was shot sometime between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. He was found outside his vehicle shortly after midnight Feb. 5 by an off-duty security guard at Greenbrook Park, in the 6600 block of Greenbrook Boulevard.

He was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

Bristow said witness testimony implicating both Bailey and Hernandez gave the Sheriff’s Office the probable cause it needed to make arrests in the case. 

Multiple latent prints were found in the victim’s vehicle and detectives also found a .40-caliber shell casing in the rear passenger side seat. Fingerprints of both of Hernandez and Baily were found in the vehicle. 

Images on a cell phone seized during the robbery investigation, showed a .40 caliber semi-automatic firearm — the same as what was used to shoot Cherp. Based on the victim’s injuries, it is believed the shooter was sitting in the back seat behind the passenger when the shots were fired. 

Cell phone data shows Baily was near Greenbrook Park at the time of the robbery. Cell phone data also reveals phone calls between Baily and Hernandez the night of the murder.

Baily had been arrested in late December 2016 for a drug-related robbery in the 14400 block of State Road 70, Bristow said