DeLAND, Fla. – A woman paid someone to fatally shoot her stepfather so she could receive the money from his insurance policy, which had recently been increased from $25,000 to $750,000, according to DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger.
Police said on Jan. 31, 2019, 59-year-old Terrance Gibson was in a vacant lot on Euclid Avenue known as “The Watering Hole” hanging out at a campfire with a group of people when a masked gunman came out of nowhere and ambushed him.
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After the shooting, the culprit ran away to an area where a getaway driver was waiting, Umberger said.
Now about a year and a half later, investigators said they determined that Gibson was killed in a murder for hire orchestrated by his stepdaughter Myesha Williams.
“The investigation revealed that Williams’ motive was an insurance policy, which she recently had increased the value in the event of Mr. Gibson’s death. The insurance value was increased from $25,000 to $750,000 two weeks prior to the murder of Mr. Gibson,” Umberger said.
Williams was the sole beneficiary on the policy, according to authorities.
Umberger said there were no eyewitnesses who placed Williams at the scene but he has his theories that Williams could have been the getaway driver.
The man accused of shooting Gibson has been identified but charges have not been filed against him yet. Umberger said he’s in jail on unrelated charges and not a threat to the public.
Officials didn’t say how much Williams allegedly paid the man to shoot her stepfather.
Williams was arrested Monday on a first-degree murder charge.
The investigation is ongoing.