EUSTIS, Fla. – Months after a 39-year-old man was shot to death in Eustis, the city’s police chief announced Thursday an arrest had been made.
Wseni Laguerre, 39, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at a home along Palm Avenue on Jan. 30 and was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Austin Hill, 27, of Mount Dora, has been arrested and will face a charge of first-degree premeditated murder in Laguerre’s death, according to Chief Craig Capri.
“Mr. Hill is 27 years old and has 17 felony convictions. He got out of jail in (November) after serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery. This guy is a piece of trash, OK? Piece of trash,” Capri said.
Hill was already in custody for this latest development, having been arrested via warrant Tuesday in Orange County to face charges in Lake County of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon involving dating violence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and improper exhibition of a firearm, records show.
“We had him in custody on another unrelated case of domestic battery with a gun, where he was beating a female up with a gun, so this is not a nice guy,” Capri said.
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Many of Laguerre’s loved ones were present for the news conference Thursday, but only one of them — a woman who said her name was Alexia — spoke.
“He was the glue, he kept us together, he kept everything calm, he was not a violent guy, he wasn’t. He would go and take care the problems, de-escalate the problem, if any of us had a problem. He was not violent. He was lovable, everybody loved him, he loved kids, he got nieces that’s been born that won’t even be able to see him, won’t be able to experience the love that he had to share,” she said. “He wasn’t in the street, he didn’t get shot down in the street, he got shot down in his mom’s house. He was home. He wasn’t out partying, he was home. They came to his house, asked for him, didn’t know who he was; everybody in Lake County knows who he is, they know him, they ask for him.”
Though an arrest was made, Capri stressed that Laguerre’s family has only taken the first step in the closure process.
“This was a family man that was murdered, that’s all that should matter at this point. I mean, we owe it to this family and we owe it to him, and I think we got the ball moving in the right direction but we’ve still got more work to do,” Capri said. “When we walk out of this room in a few minutes it’s over for us, but they have to live this every day.”
Citing an investigation still in progress, Capri did not share much more information on the shooting besides stating that Hill “knew who he was going to kill” and confirming that Hill called Laguerre out before shots were fired.
At a news conference shortly after the shooting itself, Capri said Laguerre was shot three times at a close distance before Hill ran off.
“This is a cold, calculated murder by a coward that walked up to an unarmed person and shot him in front of his residence where his family was inside,” he said. “I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done. Nobody deserves to be shot and killed.”
This is a developing story. Check back with News 6 for updates.
See Thursday’s news conference again in the media player below.
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