Alexander Jerome Sirmons was 21 when he was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting on North 23rd Street in Fort Pierce on February 17, 2019. Known as Lil Earl and Man Man, he was remembered for his baseball talent and for enjoying video gaming, dominoes and spades. He worked at Premier Fabricators making sign structures for the Florida Department of Transportation.

The shooting, reported around 5 p.m., also wounded an 18-year-old man who later recovered. Police described the incident as part of a gang-related conflict, with Sirmons identified as a member of a rival gang. Three people — Lafayette Bacon, Danquiel Davis and Maxwell Pierce — were arrested and originally charged with second-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and discharge of a firearm resulting in great bodily harm.

A cooperative prosecution witness who had testified to a grand jury and appeared for depositions later disappeared and was unavailable for trial. With that witness gone, the defendants pleaded no contest to manslaughter and received prison terms of about four years, with credit for time served. Does anyone in the Fort Pierce area have memories of Alexander or information about that evening that could help others understand what happened?