Vedner Jacsaint, a 32-year-old Black man, was shot and killed in the early morning of November 14, 2020. The shooting occurred at the Lauderhill Point apartment complex in Lauderhill, Florida, a federally subsidized housing project with a history of violence. Neighbors found Mr. Jacsaint bleeding in a hallway and called the police. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The investigation revealed that Mr. Jacsaint had spent the night with his new girlfriend, Pamela Davenport. He left her home around 6 a.m. to return to his own apartment at Lauderhill Point. When he arrived in the parking lot, he called Ms. Davenport. During their conversation, she heard him say, “no, no,” in a fearful voice before the line went silent.
Detectives learned that Ms. Davenport’s ex-boyfriend, Leon Grant, was the father of her children. She had recently ended her relationship with Grant to be with Mr. Jacsaint.
Grant had discovered the new relationship on October 30 after a fight in which he took Ms. Davenport’s phone. According to an arrest warrant, about a day before the murder, Grant became angry when his daughter told him that Ms. Davenport and Mr. Jacsaint were planning to have a baby together.
Police alleged that after learning this, the 31-year-old Grant recruited his cousin, 23-year-old Weldon Carter, to help him carry out the murder. Investigators believe the two men drove to the Lauderhill Point complex, waited for Mr. Jacsaint to arrive, and confronted him. Police stated that Carter then shot Mr. Jacsaint multiple times.
After the shooting, the cousins fled the scene. Carter drove Grant to his job at Milk Money, a coffee bar in Fort Lauderdale, where Grant reportedly clocked in and worked his entire shift. Both Leon Grant and Weldon Carter were later arrested. As of December 2020, both men had been charged with first-degree murder.
