Redding being held in jail under $75,000 total bond on three counts and no bond on three others
A 22-year-old Venice man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that occurred about 11:11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, in Venice, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has announced.
Micah Redding, of 271 Randolph Road in Venice, has been charged with multiple counts, as noted in his Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division record: attempted second-degree murder; discharge of a firearm from a vehicle; possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted Florida felon; DUI; DUI with damage to property or to a person; and hit and run — leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.
No bond was set on the charges of attempted homicide, possession of a weapon or ammunition by a felon, or discharge of a weapon from a vehicle, the record shows. On the other three counts, the total bond is $75,000, the Corrections Division record says.
His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 24, the Corrections Division record adds.
On Dec. 18, Redding’s attorney — Marc Richard Gilman, an assistant public defender — filed a plea of “Not Guilty” for Redding and demanded a jury trial, 12th Judicial Circuit Court records show.
When officers arrived at the scene of the shooting, a Sheriff’s Office news release says, they found one female victim, who was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital by Bayflight.
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Redding identifies the victim as Elan Lauren Westman, but her address is redacted.
“Investigators determined the victim was shot during a dispute that occurred at a residence,” the news release continues. “Redding left in a vehicle prior to the arrival of deputies and crashed in the area of mile marker 198” on Interstate 75 northbound, the release adds.
“The SCSO Aviation Section assisted in locating Redding, who had run from the crash,” the release points out.
The Sheriff’s Office’s “Emergency Response Team later located evidence believed to be linked to the crime,” the release adds.
The Dec. 13 incident occurred in the area of Fallow Road and East Baffin Drive in Venice, the Sheriff’s Office reported. That location is east of U.S. 41 and west of Jacaranda Boulevard, a map shows. It is a residential area close to a 3.22-acre drainage reservoir that the county owns, based on information that The Sarasota News Leader read on the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s website.
Redding’s Probable Cause Affidavit explains that when deputies arrived on the scene, they discovered the victim “had visible gunshot wounds to her torso and left leg.”
Detectives who arrived at the residence found a revolver in the front yard, blood on the driveway and “multiple bullet impacts on the front of the residence,” the affidavit added.
The victim’s daughter, Harmony Dennis, and Dennis’ boyfriend, Robert Ray Edington III, told detectives that they had been “hanging out with Redding at the Fallow Road residence since approximately [8 p.m. on Dec. 13,] playing softball and drinking alcohol.” Dennis said that “Redding began getting ‘handsy’ and touched her breast and was saying inappropriate things to her,” the affidavit continues. “Dennis said she pushed Redding away from her, which then led to Redding shoving her to the ground,” the affidavit adds.
Edington told the detectives that “he intervened and engaged in a physical confrontation with Redding,” the affidavit continues.
Afterward, the affidavit notes, Dennis and Edington said, Redding drove away, “only to return approximately 10 minutes later in his truck,” accompanied by his 20-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Eve Katoke, who “approached the residence and demanded [that Dennis and Edington] return Redding’s money and other belongings. (Katoke reported to the detectives that when Redding came home that night, he told her “that he was ‘jumped’ by Dennis and Edington and that they took his phone and other items.” She added that she returned to the scene to help him retrieve the items.)
Katoke and Dennis began “engaging in a physical fight near the front door of the residence,” the affidavit adds.
Edington and the victim “attempted to intervene in the fight,” the affidavit continues, “at which point Redding began shooting at them from within his black diesel truck.” Dennis and Edington took cover behind vehicles in the driveway, the affidavit notes. However, “gunfire struck Westman, causing her to fall to the ground,” the affidavit says.
Katoke told the detectives that she has a Glock 17 pistol, which she had left in Redding’s truck during the confrontation, the affidavit continues.
After the physical altercation, Katoke told the detectives, Redding went back to the truck and then started shooting through a window of the vehicle.
Following the shooting, Katoke said, she left with Redding, and he dropped her off at her home located at 271 Randolph Ave.; she did not seem him again that night, the affidavit notes.
The vehicle crash
During its review of court cases involving Redding, the News Leader found several pertaining to the issuance of traffic citations on Dec. 14. Those involved careless driving, speeding, failure to have his driver’s license with him, no proof of insurance, failure to display registration, and having improper or unsafe equipment.
At 11:44 p.m. on Dec. 14, Redding’s affidavit says, a person who called 911 advised the dispatcher that he had been struck “by a black Ford pickup at the 198 northbound mile marker on Interstate 75.”
The driver told the Florida Highway Patrol troper who arrived on the scene that the driver of the pickup ran into the woods after the crash, the affidavit notes.
“In the middle rear seat of the Ford F250,” the affidavit adds, “there was a fired cartridge casing in plain view.”
With the assistance of one of the Sheriff’s Office helicopters and a K9 unit, the affidavit points out, deputies were able to locate Redding and take him into custody.
The citations issued in connection with the crash indicate that Redding was 10,161 feet north of the Laurel Road East ramp to I-75 when that incident occurred.
“Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Criminal Investigation Section at 941-861-4900,” or by leaving an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS (8477) or going online at www.crimestoppers.com, the Sheriff’s Office says.
Prior charge for Redding
In a search of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records, the News Leader learned that, when he was 16, Redding was charged in August 2018 with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon without Intent to Kill and Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle.
That incident occurred on July 30, 2018 at 607 Garden Road in Venice, the Probable Cause Affidavit said.
The investigation found that Donte Franklin texted his ex-girlfriend, Alexis Tipp, to let her know he was coming to her home to retrieve an item that belonged to him. Three of his friends joined him, the affidavit added.
When Franklin arrived at Tipp’s home, the affidavit continued, Micah Redding confronted Franklin, whom the document described as a friend of Tipp, “and an argument ensued.” It added, “Redding then produced a handgun and started to shoot toward Franklin as Franklin ran away” and ended up getting into the Ford in which he and his friends had arrived.
“Redding then shot the driver door of the vehicle as the vehicle fled the area,” the affidavit said.
In the fall of 2019, Redding was convicted of attempted murder and firing a weapon into a vehicle, both of which were second-degree felonies, the case Judgment shows.
He was sentenced to 36 months on each count, with the time to be served concurrently, his Order of Probation said. He was given credit for the time he had served in jail, it added, but, he also was to be placed on probation for 24 months following his confinement.
Circuit Judge Charles E. Roberts signed that order on Oct. 24, 2019, the record showed.
Redding appealed the guilty verdict, but the Second District Court of Appeal sided with Judge Roberts, the April 2021 document said.
Then, almost exactly two years later — in April 2023 — Redding’s probation was modified so his curfew would extend only from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.