SWFL.io - Local NewsARCADIA, Fla. (WINK)—A small Southwest Florida town is shaken after a double murder claimed the life of two women on Friday.
Arcadia Police said officers responded to a shooting at the Jacaranda Trail apartment complex just after 9:00 a.m. Officers said they found a woman who was shot multiple times after a "domestic incident.”
Police later arrested 45-year-old Eric Devon Robinson nearby. Robinson faces several charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, one-count of kidnapping, and one-count of obstructing justice.
Officers said they discovered a second woman who was shot and killed at the apartment complex after 1:00 p.m. on Friday.
Family and friends told WINK News the victims are Tanika Summers and Barbara Bates.
Summers was a caring mother who was about to start a new chapter of life, according to Jennifer Bowser, executive director of Arcadia-DeSoto County Habitat for Humanity.
“There’s no way she will every be replaced,” Bowser said. “It’s so hard to believe that she’s gone."
Bowser said Summers was preparing to move into a Habitat for Humanity home in Arcadia. On Thursday, one day before her death, Summers helped put down sod at the property. Bowser shared a photograph of Summers that showed her smiling in front of the home.
“Her laugh was just so contagious and so spontaneous,” Bowser said. “It would come out and just light up the room."
The group planned to hold a dedication ceremony for Summers next Wednesday. Instead, Habitat for Humanity will host a memorial service in her honor.
Family members identified the second woman killed in Friday’s shooting as 77-year-old Barbara Bates. Alonda Lester, who lives in Cape Coral, said Bates was her aunt. Lester described her as “funny” and “fierce.”
"This is a terrible loss for our family,” Lester told WINK News. "We are in shock and heartbroken. We are praying for the other family that lost a loved one in this horrific violence.”
Lester said police told her that Bates was ‘targeted’ in the shooting. Family members believe that Bates witnessed the first attack and was gunned down afterwards.
WINK News reached out to Arcadia Police for more information, but did not hear back.
"She was my best friend and my last living grandparent and my mother's last living parent,” said Madalyn Brown, Bates granddaughter. "She was as healthy as any 77 year old woman possibly could be and would have lived for many more years if this senseless act hadn't taken her from us. We miss her so deeply and are still struggling to process the nature of all of this.”
Habitat for Humanity will host a public memorial for Summers at 1123 East Maple Street in Arcadia on Wednesday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m.