LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — A little more than seven years after the start of a homicide investigation, the Lee County Sheriff's Office has arrested a suspect in the case.
On Dec. 10, deputies arrested 31-year-old Sunni Rasshad Jahbari for second-degree murder, human trafficking, and robbery with a firearm.
The case started on September 21, 2015 near Venetia St E and Naples Ave D in Lehigh Acres. Deputies responded to a car fire where they found charred human remains. An autopsy revealed the victim was shot and the car was set on fire.
According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, the victim had been in contact with a young girl using the website "Backpage," a site to solicit escorts.
Deputies says the victim had been in contact with the 15-year-old girl multiple times a day on the day of the shooting. The minor's number was the last one on the victim's phone.
Detectives tracked it to a home in Lehigh Acres, and using phone records and tower locations from the phones, they were both in the same area in Lehigh Acres on the day of the deadly shooting.
The case went cold after that. No details were given, but LCSO says new information led detectives to identify Jahnari.
Through tips, LCSO says Jahbari had been in a fight with the victim, allegedly surrounding a "Backpage" post of the young girl being prostituted.
During the fight, LCSO says the victim was shot dead and robbed by Jahbari.
In 2022, Jahbari was found in Los Angeles, California. He had been recently arrested for attempted murder there.
He is now in the Lee County Jail and is held without bond.
