Friends speak out after a Fort Myers man is gunned down after an argument. His killer is still on the run. Tyrone “Jason” Morse mentored kids who struggled to get off the streets. His longtime friend, Hector Avila, tells us, “He talks to the kids and tells them about the bad situations that he's made, he says 'hey stay off the streets. It’s nowhere to be."
Morse had lots of friends and a big family who would've likely celebrated his 41st birthday with him this weekend. Instead, they’re all left wondering why this senseless tragedy had to happen.
Now red roses and blood stains mark the spot where Morse was gunned down Wednesday afternoon. Vincent Williams was friends with Morse and says, "I'm broken hearted." He goes on to say, “This is bad, I heard it was an AK-47, that's an assault weapon man."
Neighbors are now keeping tight lipped about what went down. One man says he fears retaliation because he has been threatened numerous times by the guys who hang out on his street. Neighbors tell us they won't let their kids out of their front yards because they don't consider this area safe. A nearby playground is just a couple of hundred feet away from the murder scene and it’s completely empty.
Hector Avila feels that overall, the area is relatively safe. He says, "Except for a few incidents here and there it's a great place to live." He grew up with Morse and they went to the same school. He remembers, “I grew up with him, you know going to school at Cypress Lake High School." Avila says Morse was a star basketball player but we found things took a sharp turn for him right after high school.
By the age of 19, records show Morse was arrested on a drug charge. Over the next 15 years he was arrested 15 times in Lee County for everything from intent to sell cocaine to battery. Since 2010, records who Morse may have turned his life around. Avila recalls, “He was a good guy, family man. He was always a person to diffuse any kind of incident."
Avila says Morse surrounded himself with family and friends and helped kids in the neighborhood, "He was always talking to our youth, letting them know the streets ain't the way to go so he was a good guy."
We're told Morse left behind six children. At this point, we don't have any information about the investigation into his killer.
