Suspect finally booked into Sarasota County Jail after arrest in Louisiana
The 41-year-old suspect in the death of a woman who lived in a Ringling Boulevard apartment in Sarasota finally was booked into the county jail on Feb. 19 on a murder charge, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
Djalma Johan Gordon, of 2260 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, was taken into custody in the West Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana after a traffic stop on Interstate 4, the Sarasota Police Department reported early this month.
During Gordon’s first appearance in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, on Feb. 21, Circuit Judge Thomas Krug ordered that he be held without bond, court records show. A form that King signed noted that the victim — identified in the arrest warrant as Valerie Nicole Green — had 17 blunt-force trauma marks on her head, as well as an indication of strangulation. Further, the form said, the Police Department had obtained video evidence of Gordon “going in and out of [the] apartment [complex]” where Green was found to be deceased, as well as a shoe print in blood.
The incident involving Green was reported early in the afternoon of Feb. 4, the arrest warrant notes. The apartment number was redacted from the warrant in court records, as were Green’s date of birth and other personal information.
The narrative of the Probable Cause Affidavit in the case says that about 7:51 p.m. on Feb. 4, Sarasota Police Department Patrol Division officers received a call from the Lyra Sarasota apartment complex, which stands at 2260 Ringling Blvd, with a request for a welfare check on Green. “The complainant was a business associate and close friend” of Green, the affidavit points out.
“The complainant had not been able to contact Green since approximately [1:49 p.m. that day],” the affidavit narrative notes. “Green had failed to show at scheduled work appointments,” it adds; the complainant told the Police Department that that was uncharacteristic of Green and that it also was not common for Green to be out of contact with the complainant.
When they arrived at the apartment complex, the narrative continues, officers knocked on Green’s door “numerous times,” and they attempted to reach her by phone. They did not hear any noise coming from the apartment, the narrative says, and her vehicle was in the parking lot of the apartment complex.
Then, at 8:34 p.m. the same day, the narrative adds, officers received a second call from the same complainant, asking for another welfare check on Green. The narrative points out that the complainant maintained “that it was unlike Green to be out of contact for seven hours.” During that call, the narrative further notes, the complainant also told officers “that Green recently ended her relationship with her fiancé,” who lived in the same apartment.
Information that the complainant provided the officers enabled them to identify Green’s former fiancé as Djalma Gordon, the affidavit says. Using a license plate reader database, the affidavit continues, officers were able to determine that Gordon’s vehicle was on I-10, traveling westbound at 9:01 p.m. on Feb. 4. A second license plate reader then showed that the vehicle was at the Alabama state line, still headed westbound, at 10:19 p.m. on Feb. 4, the affidavit notes.
Evidence in the apartment
Officers were able to get in touch with the manager of the Lyra apartments, the affidavit points out; they requested assistance with a welfare check on Green.
Once inside the apartment, the affidavit continues, the officers found a deceased woman on the floor of a bedroom. Blood was on her body and surrounded her, the narrative adds, and a bag was lying over her face. No one else was present within the apartment, the affidavit notes.
A member of the Sarasota County Fire Department pronounced the woman dead at 10:08 p.m. on Feb. 4, the affidavit says.
Police Department detectives positively identified the woman as Green, the affidavit adds.
An investigator with the Medical Examiner’s Office who conducted a preliminary exam on Green found “multiple blunt force injuries to her head and neck area” and that an item, “possibly a plastic bag, was stuffed inside her mouth,” the affidavit notes.
In searching the apartment, the affidavit continues, detectives found a cabinet door open under the kitchen sink. Blood was on the cabinet handle, the affidavit says, and an opened box of garbage bags had blood on it.
When detectives reviewed video surveillance provided by the Lyra, the affidavit says, they noted that, at 12:15 p.m. on Feb. 4, Gordon’s vehicle had entered the gated parking lot of the complex. One minute later, the video showed Gordon entering the building, it adds. Then, at 2:25 p.m. that day, the affidavit continues, Gordon was seen leaving the building with a trash bag, along with a “black cross-body type backpack” and “a black bag” with a graphic on it including the word “Collective.”
The trash bag Gordon was carrying was similar to the bags found under the kitchen sink in the apartment, the narrative notes.
At 2:33 p.m. on Feb. 4, Gordon’s vehicle exited the gated parking lot, as shown on the video, the narrative says.
Early in the afternoon of Feb. 3, the narrative continues, detectives learned that Green sent the complainant a voice text that said Green thought Gordon had moved out that morning, because his clothes and other belongings were gone. When Green texted Gordon to ask where he was staying, the affidavit continues, “Gordon responded that he was returning,” adding that the previous night — Feb. 2 — he “got un-hinged.”
The affidavit further points out, “Green indicated that Gordon did not show-up at his new job [on Feb. 3].”
Then the affidavit adds, “Green stated she is going to try and get out because it’s clear that he [Gordon] is not doing mentally the best.”
The narrative does add information about Gordon’s traffic stop in Louisiana. It notes that the officer who conducted that stop was able to observe the “Collective” bag, “a small black backpack and a gray trash bag” inside the vehicle.