Sheriff Announces Arrests In I-4 Shooting Death Of 17-Year-Old

PLANT CITY, FL — Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, joined by local and state law enforcement agencies, announced the arrest of three people following a shooting on Interstate 4 on Aug. 24 that left a teenager dead.

Jaris Dequan Youngblood, 20, was arrested on Saturday in Tampa and charged with premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm, shooting into a vehicle and tampering with evidence.

His brother, Jarkese Nicholas Youngblood, 22, was arrested in Osceola County. He is charged with being a principal to premeditated first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Jarkese Youngblood's girlfriend, Sha'Quandra Clarnique Williams, 19, turned herself into the Orient Road Jail on Saturday night. She is also charged with tampering with evidence.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives learned that all three were riding in a gold Ford Taurus owned by Jarkese Youngblood just before 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, when a shooting occurred on I-4 near Branch Forbes Road in Plant City.

According to witnesses, a person in the gold Ford Taurus was seen shooting at another car. A 17-year-old boy who was a passenger in the other car with two friends was struck in the torso during the gunfire. His friends drove him to South Florida Baptist Hospital, 301 N. Alexander St. in Plant City, where the teen later died from his injuries.

"Consider for a moment vehicles traveling at high speeds on I-4," said Chronister. "Passenger vehicles, tractor-trailers and heavy equipment haulers. If the victims' vehicle had lost control, we would be looking at an absolute catastrophe and most likely a devastating number of fatalities."

The shooting followed several recent shootings on I-4 within Plant City and Tampa city limits. The sheriff's office worked closely with the Plant City Police Department and Tampa Police Department, along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol, to find links in the cases.

"To address concerns that this incident may be linked to a serial shooter along I-4, fortunately, that is not the case," said Chronister.

The agencies worked with the FDLE to conduct ballistics testing from the shootings, which did not confirm a connection between other I-4 shootings over the summer.

Detectives believe that the I-4 shooting on Aug. 24 was the result of an ongoing neighborhood and online feud between young people in the Plant City area.

Following multiple interviews, detectives learned that the Youngblood brothers saw a group of people they were feuding with driving down I-4. Jaris Youngblood rolled down the rear driver's side window and shot at the people while his brother was driving.

With the help of statements from witnesses driving on I-4, detectives were able to locate surveillance videos from numerous nearby businesses where the Ford Taurus stopped after the Aug. 24 shooting.

Video evidence combined with interviews helped detectives identify the Youngbloods and Williams as the people in the Taurus at the time of the shooting.

Williams later admitted to detectives that her 1-year-old child was riding in her lap in the front passenger seat when the shooting occurred on I-4.

Days after the shooting, Williams sold Jarkese Youngblood's gold Ford Taurus to a scrap metal yard in Osceola County in an effort to hide the evidence.

During Monday's press conference, Chronister thanked all the law enforcement agencies involved, including the Florida Highway Patrol, which provided patrol vehicles to block I-4 the day of the shooting. That allowed sheriff's detectives to walk several miles of the interstate in search of evidence.

"The sheriff’s office and our partners are unified and committed," said Chronister. "The announcement of these arrests is a resounding example of how well we work together, and because of the relationship we share with our law enforcement partners, our Tampa Bay community is a safer place."

Video courtesy Hillsborough Sheriff