Reed informed of charges as she serves time at Ocala correctional facility
A second person is facing a murder charge in connection with a May 2024 homicide in Sarasota, the Sarasota Police Department has reported.
As of March 27, a news release said, Laterryah T. Reed, 21, of Sarasota, was being held at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala on separate charges from 2024. “A warrant for the murder charge was filed by Sarasota Police detectives on Wednesday, March 25. Detectives traveled to Ocala to meet Reed and to inform her of the charge,” the release added.
A Sarasota News Leader online search on April 6 confirmed that Reed remains in custody at the Ocala facility. A document says her release date is July 9, 2027. She has been in custody there since April 7, 2025, the form notes.
About 10:15 p.m. on May 16, 2024, Sarasota Police officers responded to a shooting in the 1800 block of 31st Street in Sarasota, the March 27 news release continued. When they arrived, they found the victim, a 28-year-old man who lived in Sarasota, had been shot twice and had died at the scene, the release added.
The incident occurred near the intersection of 31st St and Osprey Avenue in Sarasota, the Police Department reported. The location was southeast of Booker High School, as the News Leader observed on a map.
On May 21, 2024, Sarasota Police detectives arrested Tujuan Byrd, 15, of Sarasota, in connection with the homicide, the release said. Byrd also was charged with murder.
As Sarasota Police detectives continued their investigation in an effort to identify another person who reportedly was involved in the shooting, the release noted, they “developed additional probable cause to charge Reed” with the murder.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Detective Maria Llovio at 941-263-6836 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Sarasota by calling 941-366-TIPS or going online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
A News Leader review of the records maintained by Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing and her staff found that Reed had been charged in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court with a variety of crimes in Sarasota County starting in July 2022. Among them was Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle, along with fleeing or attempting to elude police officers; carrying a concealed weapon; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, plus a count of resisting an officer without violence.
The last charge above, which resulted from a March 9, 2024 incident, involved a dispute in the area of 24th Street and Links Avenue in Sarasota, the Probable Cause Affidavit said. That affidavit also listed Reed as being homeless.
In that case, Reed entered a plea of “No Contest,” court records note. She was sentenced to prison for three years, with three years of probation to follow, a court document says.
In the Grand Theft case, court records show, Reed — who was 18 at the time — was charged with stealing a Ford F250 from the owner’s driveway and then speeding up to 100 mph as she fled from Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies. She eventually crashed the vehicle at 1494 19th St. in Sarasota, as noted in the Probable Cause Affidavit in that case.
Reed also entered a “No Contest” plea in that case, a court document says. She was sentenced to nine months in jail.