RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — A decade after two people were gunned down outside a Rivera Beach tire shop, police said they've solved the cold case.
The Riviera Beach Police Department said Lavon Heath, 33, and Jeffrey Brown, 34, were indicted on March 26 for their roles in the March 4, 2014 murders of Murat Oziros and Deondre McCoy.
Police said the victims, the owner and an employee at Florida Sunshine Tire Shop on Avenue E and 16th Street, were working at the business at approximately 8 p.m. when Heath and Brown pulled up in a stolen vehicle.
The men got out and confronted Oziros and McCoy, then opened fire, killing both of them.
Police said Heath and Brown took off after stealing jewelry and other personal belongings from the victims.
"I want the family to know that we never forgot about what we had to do, and we never one day did not think about about how we were going to conclude this case," Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman said a news conference Friday.
The department's cold case unit, which was formed in the last several years and has three detectives, all of whom are former federal agents, reopened the investigation in November 2022, reviewed evidence, conducted new interviews and performed new DNA testing.
"We then went back through and started doing some DNA testing on some weapons that we had found in another unrelated case," Detective John MacVeigh said. "The conclusion of those was that the DNA linked it to the two suspects that we have now in custody."
MacVeigh said Heath and Brown are facing charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, and a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition.
"If you commit a crime in this city, I don't care if it's in 1970, I don't care if it's in 1980, 1990, we will find you," Maj. Josh Lewis said. "We will hunt you down. We will do what we need to do to make sure that you're brought to justice."