Sheriff David Morgan said on Pensacola Speaks yesterday that a recent homicide where the victim was burned beyond recognition may be gang-related.
At approximately 4:00 am last Friday, deputies responded to the area of N Street and St. Catherine’s Avenue for a vehicle fire. Upon arrival the vehicle was fully engulfed. After the fire was extinguished an unidentified subject was located inside the vehicle, deceased. The victim had been shot. The sheriff’s office has been looking for various people for questioning.
In the radio interview, Sheriff Morgan said his investigators believed they know the identity of victim, who is thought to be 16 years old, but they are waiting for DNA tests results to confirm his identity. His agency believes the murder is tied to a local “hybrid” gang of teenagers.
“The sad part of this case, Rick, is we believe that it’s tied into that local teenage gang, the Get Money Team, the GMT,” said the sheriff.
Though some may refer to such smaller gangs as “local hybrid gangs” because they don’t carry a big, national name like the Bloods or the Crips or the La Familia or MS-13 or Sureños 13, the sheriff said they can be more dangerous.
Sheriff Morgan, “The gang experts will tell you that they are much more violent than the national gangs because they tend to not have hierarchy. They’re not really structured…In the local hybrid gangs, it is fluid. You could be the gang leader today, I could be the gang leader tomorrow, Don could be the day after. It depends upon who shows up today with the most money, the most drugs, et cetera.”
Pensacola Speaks airs weekdays from 5-6 p.m. on News Talk 1370 WCOA. Call in @ 850-478-3116. You can listen online on their website or download their App from Apple or Google Play.