3 Men Charged With 1st-Degree Murder In Oldsmar Shooting Death

OLDSMAR, FL — Pinellas County Sheriff's detectives have arrested three men they say are responsible for the fatal shooting of an Oldsmar man Aug. 22.

Kleatis D. Webb Jr., 37, of Largo; Eric Pasquale Melucci, 34, of Largo; and Jason James Botes, 32, of Largo have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of James William Knoll Jr., 35, of 3740 Shore Blvd.

Deputies responded to an armed person call at 12:02 a.m. Aug. 22 and found Knoll inside the home dead of a gunshot wound to his head.

During the investigation, detectives learned that two men wearing masks, dressed in all black and carrying AR-15-style .223-caliber rifles attempted a home invasion at Knoll's home. In the process, Knoll was shot through the front door.

The men fled in an F150 pickup truck.

The investigation led detectives to Webb, Melucci and Botes Detectives say the subjects fled the scene in a vehicle after the shooting.After an extensive investigation that lasted more than two weeks, detectivesidentified 37-year-old Kleatis Webb Jr., 34-year-old Eric Melucci, and32-year-old Jason Botes as suspects in the shooting.Through various investigative techniques, detectives' confirmed that on August22, 2019, Webb, Melucci, and Botes drove to Knoll's residence with the intentto commit a home invasion robbery. The men put on masks, wore dark clothing,gloves, and armed themselves with AR-15 styled .223 caliber rifles.During the robbery attempt, a struggle ensued and Knoll was shot through thefront door of his residence.The suspects then fled the scene in a Ford F-150 truck.

Detectives said Botes knew Knoll and the robbery attempt was narcotics-related.

Detectives arrested Webb on Thursday. Melucci and Botes were arrested Friday.

Webb was charged with one count of first-degree murder. Melucci was charged with one count of first-degree murder and a warrant for possession of cocaine. Botes was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of driving while license suspended or revoked.