PANAMA CITY — The man fatally shot early Christmas recently reported the theft of three guns from homes, but a detective said Thursday there is no connection between the reported theft and his death.
Wilbert “Cadillac Will” Faison, 56, was shot down around 1 a.m. Wednesday, eight days after he reported the theft of two antique shotguns and a pistol from his home. Sgt. Mike Brewer said police looked into a possible connection and have definitively ruled one out.
Police on Thursday released the name of a person of interest who might have information about the Christmas morning homicide. Detectives are looking for 32-year-old Stephen Trusty, who has lived in the past at the home where Faison was shot.
Very few details of the shooting have been released. Faison died of his wounds at a local hospital about 30 minutes after he was shot. His aunt told the News Herald he was shot in the back.
Police Chief Scott Ervin said the case is being investigated as a homicide, but he said it was not yet clear if the shooting was an accident, a justifiable homicide or a murder. Brewer said he had information about the motive, but he wasn’t going to release it because the investigation is ongoing.
Detectives believe Trusty was at the scene of the shooting, which occurred outside of 511 E. 13th Street, but it’s not clear if Trusty was a bystander or was somehow involved.
Ervin did not know whether Trusty, who has at least three arrests and two convictions for fleeing from police and numerous convictions for drug possession and battery, was still in the area or if he should be considered dangerous. It’s not clear if Trusty and Faison knew each other.
“It’s too early to tell at this point,” Ervin said Thursday.
According to public records, Trusty was released from prison in 2010 after serving more than three years for convictions for drugs and fleeing police. He listed an address in Gainesville as his residence upon his release, but 511 E. 13th Street is listed as his home address on his most recent local arrest report.
Several people gathered at the home next to Faison’s on Thursday, but they declined to comment.
Anyone with information on Trusty’s whereabouts or with other information on the case can call PCPD at 855-872-3112 or report it anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS (8477).
Below is an earlier version of this report
PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Police Department has named a "person of interest" in a Christmas Day slaying and is asking for help locating the man.
A news release describes the person of interest as Stephen Trusty, a 32-year-old black man. Anyone with information about Trusty's location is asked to call Detective Mike Rossomondo at 850-872-3112. Anonymous tips can be reported to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS.
Investigators said Wilbert Angelo Faison, 56, was shot at about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. He was taken to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System where he died at 1:31 a.m.
Faison was shot at a house in the 500 block of East 13th Street near Bay High School — the school where he graduated years earlier. He did not live at the address, but his home was in the neighborhood, a few streets away, police said.
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