The News-Press, Fort Myers, Florida
Saturday, October 4, 2008
FORT Myers
Man shot behind bar, taken to hospital
A man was shot and taken to Lee Memorial Hospital Friday night in Fort Myers.
The shooting happened about 11:20 p.m. outside a bar at Ballard Road and Clotilde Avenue.
The man, who has not yet been named, was shot in the chest. His condition was unavailable early this morning.
Police are searching the area for a known suspect. The identity of the suspect was not released by police.
A fight started in the El Rey de Oros bar and continued outside. The incident was caught on a security
camera, sait Lt. Dennis Eads.


Shooting at Fort Myers bar
By WINK News
Story Created: Oct 5, 2008 at 12:32 PM EST
Story Updated: Oct 5, 2008 at 2:18 PM EST
FORT Myers, Fla. - Fort Myers Police need your help in finding the suspect in a deadly shooting outside of the El Rey De Oros bar.
It happened late Friday night at the bar on corner of Ballard Road and Clotilde Avenue in Fort Myers.
Police say suspect a left the scene and has not been found.
If you have any information you are asked to call Crimestoppers 1-800-780-TIPS.


The News-Press, Fort Myers, Florida
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Suspect in bar shooting at large
Slaying caught on surveillance video, police say
BY GABRIELLA SOUZA and DAVE BREITENSTEIN
dbreitenstein@news-press.com gsouza@news-press.com
Fort Myers police are searching for a man believed to have killed a fellow bar patron Friday night after arguing about a woman.
Willie Sturgis, 33, of Ohio Avenue, was last seen in security camera footage driving from the El Rey De Oros bar in his Chrysler Pacifica around 11:30 p.m. Friday. Police tracked the vehicle to Sturgis' home, but found only his wife and child inside. There was a large amount of drugs at the home, police said.
"The vehicle he was driving when the incident happened was indeed here," said Lt. Dennis Eads. "We received a search warrant. We searched the residence, and he was not inside."
Police say Sturgis and Jose Lara Lopez, 32, started fighting in the bar at the intersection of Ballard Road and Clotilde Avenue in east Fort Myers. Sturgis left the bar for a short time, then came back with a handgun and shot Lopez once in the chest, they say, which also was captured on surveillance video.
Last year, Sturgis was charged with felony cocaine possession, and he was arrested twice in 2001 on misdemeanor battery charges.
The colorfully painted bar in Fart Myers is distinct in a neighborhood predominantly filled with single family homes and vacant lots. Children walk past the bar every day en route to Lee Middle School, which sits directly across Ballard Road. Principal Vivian Smith said Friday's shoooting was the only time she's ever heard anything about El Rey De Oros.
"I've never seen anyone coming or going there," Smith said Saturday.
An employee standing at the bar's entrance Saturday evening said the business was open, but had no comment about Friday's shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to call 321-7700 or Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS.
- Jessie Vega of the News-Press contributed to this report.

The News-Press, Fort Myers, Florida
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
DEATHS
LARA, JOSE "ANGEL", 32, of Fort Myers, died Saturday. Arrangements in care of Anderson Funeral Home, Fort Myers.

The News-Press, Fort Myers, Florida
Thursday, October 9, 2008
OBITUARIES
FUNERALS & MEMORIALS
JOSE "ANGEL" Lara
OCTOBER 4, 2008
Jose "Angel" Lara, 32, of Fort Myers passed away on Saturday, October 4, 2008. He was born in Salvatierra, Guanajuato Mexico, worked with Prestress Systems of Florida as a carpenter and loved to fish and travel. He will be truly missed by his family and friends.
He is the beloved son of Ma De Jesus Lopez; brother of Roman Lara, Javier Lopez, Guadelupe Lopez, Hilda Lara and Gladis Alejandra Lara; and nephew of Agustin and Alvino Lara. He was the Beloved husband of Rhonda Ray Lara and step father to Joseph, Patricia and Marcia Ray. He was predeceased by his father, Vincente Lara Nunez.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, Oct. 11th, 2008 from 3-6 p.m. at the Anderson Funeral Home, 3654 Palm Beach Blvd. Burial will take place in Guanajuato, Mexico.

The News-Press, Fort Myers, Florida
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Murder suspect picked up on Fort Myers street
BY RACHEL Myers rmyers@news-press.com
Fort Myers detectives knew who he was.
There was video footage, and witnesses saw the incident unfold just outside the packed El Rey De Oros bar that Friday night.
It was just a matter of finding him.
On Tuesday, after almost two weeks on the run, Willie Sturgis, 33, of Fort Myers was arrested on a warrant for second-degree murder in the Oct. 3 slaying of 32-year-old Jose Lara Lopez.
Investigators believe the fight between the two at the Ballard Road hangout originated over a girl, although Sturgis is married with a child.
Police spokeswoman Shelly Flynn said investigators with the Fort Myers Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff's Office tracked Sturgis to Orlando and then back to the Fort Myers area.
He was arrested Tuesday by sheriff's deputies near a downtown law firm.
"We believe he is a danger to the community because he took the life of someone in a crowded bar," Flynn said. "We believed it was inperative to get him off the streets."
Surveillance video showed the incident in its entirety as it took place.
Lopez and Sturgis bickered for a time, police say, before Sturgis left, returning soon after with a handgun. It's not clear whether they exchanged more words, but detectives say Sturgis fired at least one round into Lopez's chest.
Lopez died later that night after being taken to Lee Memorial Hospital.
Sturgis was then seen getting into his Chrysler Pacifica and driving away.
When officers went their way to Sturgis' home on Ohio Avenue, they found his wife and child, police say, along with a large amount of drugs, although they didn't specify what kind. Sturgis had been arrested six months earlier for possession of cocaine in Cape Coral. Investigators made no mention of whether drugs were a factor in the argument that night.

Online News
New details out in fatal Fort Myers nightclub shooting
By Rachel Myers . rmyers@news-press.com . October 15, 2008
New details have been released in the shooting death of Jose Lara Lopez, who was killed Oct. 3 at a Fort Myers nightclub.
Lee County Sheriff’s deputies Tuesday arrested Willie Sturgis, 33, at the downtown Federal Building around 4:30 p.m. He is being held at the Lee County Jail on a charge of non-premeditated homicide and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
According to the Fort Myers Police offense report, the motive was a dance with a waitress. Various witnesses told detectives the following:
At around 11:30 p.m., numerous men, including Lopez, were trying to dance with a waitress at El Rey De Oros bar.
'Mr. Lopez and his friends began to insist on their dance,' the report states. '(The waitress) called her boyfriend. The boyfriend was identified as a slender black male with gold teeth, who is known as Willie Sturgis.'
He was not at the bar at the time the incident occurred, but he arrived, apparently, to come to her aid.
'Sturgis came to the bar and got into a verbal argument with the Hispanic males,' the report says. 'In the midst of the argument, Sturgis stated, ‘He’d be back.’ Sturgis then left the bar. Sturgis then returned a few moments later...'
He parked his car behind Lopez’s, and as Lopez and his friends exited the bar, more words were exchanged.
'A short scuffle ensued,' says the report. 'After the scuffle, Sturgis pulled out a gun and shot Mr. Lopez in the upper body area.'
He then fled. Lopez later died at Lee Memorial Hospital.
Video of the incident led police to Sturgis, whom they recognized from prior arrests.
'Several officers discreetly surrounded Sturgis’ home,' the report says.
They obtained a search warrant, entered the home and he was not there. But his shirt was, as were his wife and child and a 'large' amount of drugs.
Police spokeswoman Shelly Flynn said officers from the Fort Myers Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office tracked Sturgis to the Orlando area and then back to Fort Myers.
Sturgis is being held at Lee County Jail without bond.