The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed a homicide had taken place along Gerald Ave in Lehigh Acres. However, not many details have been released.
Lehigh Acres Gazette the victim was a student at East Lee County High School. The 17-year-old Okeeno George was murdered late Wednesday night. Okeeno was a senior and an athlete at East Lee and was set to graduate this spring.
Those who live in Gulf Place Condominiums say they heard two gunshots on Wednesday night. Then, those residents awoke to deputies responding to a call of shots fired in their complex.
After the gunshots, Okeeno’s younger brother called his mother to report that Okeeno could not be found after the gunshots. The mother then reported the missing person case to the police at 6 am.
“I’ve been searching for my baby for three and a half f****** hours and they told me that my baby was in a police car and they were waiting for the paramedics to come get him out, because I put him on a missing person report — but not knowing my baby was dead in the bushes,” the mother, Trina, said.
Then, Okeeno’s family says Lee County deputies found the teen lying in the bushes, dead of an apparent gunshot wound.
Okeeno was a senior varsity football player at East Lee County High School. On Friday, the school had grief counselors on hand to talk to students.
Neighbors of the victim’s family say they are busy planning the teenager’s funeral. They were upset that this young man lost his life over what they thought was an argument of some sort.
LCSO has not said what the argument was about, how it started, or whether detectives have arrested anyone.