Jerome Lloyd Anderson murdered Antoine Melvin, John Burch, and Patrick Lassiter, according to cops. (Mugshot: Volusia County Jail)
A man with a lengthy criminal history allegedly murdered three men in a bloody scene in Daytona Beach, Florida. After the fatal shootings, the alleged suspect Jerome Lloyd Anderson, 38, then called 911.
“One of the callers identified himself as Jerome Anderson, and Anderson stated he had shot someone,” police wrote.
He claimed to have shot that person in self-defense, Daytona Beach Police Deputy Chief Jennifer Whittet said, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Police did not immediately suggest their perspective on the alleged motive or how Anderson knew — or didn’t — know the three victims. Each of them sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
- Antoine Desmond Melvin, 42, was found in a kitchen at 613 Park Drive, cops said. He had lived there with Anderson, according to officers in the News-Journal report. The city’s fire department pronounced him dead.
- John Burch, 64, was found next to the road on Park Drive directly in front of 614 Park Drive. The city’s fire department pronounced him dead.
- Patrick Lassiter, 35, was found on the roadway on South Martin Luther King Boulevard just south of Park Drive. He was moved to Halifax Hospital for treatment, but the staff there pronounced him dead. Lassiter was transient, officers said.
Each of the three bodies were found in separate locations within the same block.
Anderson faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of weapon-ammo by a convicted felon. Police also took him into custody for an outstanding warrant for aggravated battery and tampering with a witness. The arrest affidavit in that 2022 case stated he attacked his estranged wife at her home, possibly knocking her out, but one of her neighbors heard yelling, intervened with an AR-15, and scared Anderson off.
“It is unknown where Jerome is staying at currently,” wrote cops in Holly Hill, Florida, at the time. “He comes to the home off and on but goes missing for long periods of time.”
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Anderson’s lengthy criminal history in Volusia County dates back to 2005 and includes a dropped 2010 domestic battery case, and a 2017 adjudicated verdict for throwing a deadly missile at a building. Documents from the first case are not available online.
The affidavit in the deadly missile case shows Anderson tried to speak with his estranged wife and their daughter, but the wife told him he was not welcome at the residence.
“I’m going to get a pistol and come back,” Anderson said during the incident, according to cops.
He threw a piece of cement block through one of his estranged wife’s windows, they said.
Anderson is being held without bail at the Volusia County Jail.
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