TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Days after a missing Titusville woman’s remains were found, the man accused of stealing her vehicle now faces a murder charge in connection with her death, according to the police department.
Titusville police said on Monday that David Armstrong Barber, 35, who was already in the Brevard County jail, now faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of 72-year-old Jessie Kirk.
Kirk was reported missing on March 4 under “highly suspicious” circumstances, according to officials, after a friend reported her missing when she didn’t show up for a morning walk.
Barber, a former Brevard County corrections deputy, was arrested on charges of loitering and grand theft auto after investigators said they found him lurking near Kirk’s condo with burns on his arms.
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According to a probable cause affidavit, police arrived to Kirk’s condo around 8:30 a.m. on March 4 and met a friend of hers who let officers into the garage, where they encountered “a strong odor of bleach and cleaning chemicals in the air.”
The friend told police she and Kirk shared their locations via cellphones and that Kirk’s phone was last shown being on Court Street in an apartment complex across the street. The friend said there was a mutual friend of theirs who lived there, the affidavit said.
Police found Kirk’s Lincoln Navigator where her cellphone was last located, but later left after believing she may have been with the friend who lived there, according to the affidavit.
About an hour later around 9:36 a.m., Kirk’s friends and family continued to search for her where her vehicle was last seen and they noted that the vehicle was no longer there and that they noticed Barber’s vehicle, a Honda CRV, in the complex.
“This was suspicious because the niece hadn’t been in a relationship with David Barber for approximately a year, and to her knowledge, David Barber does not live or work in the Titusville area,” the affidavit reads.
According to the affidavit, Kirk’s niece told police she had received a text from Kirk’s phone at 4:42 a.m. that “implied Kirk was concerned for her safety, and she planned to go into hiding.” She told police this text did not sound the way Kirk writes or speaks and that she believed Barber may have harmed her aunt, the affidavit said.
Police then spoke with a witness who said they saw a man in the apartment complex around 1 a.m. walk back and forth from a Lincoln Navigator and a Honda CRV, as well as move the vehicles more than once.
Just after 12 p.m. on March 4, Barber returned to his vehicle in the complex, where police noticed he had a large burn on his right arm and that part of his shirt had been burned, according to the affidavit. When police asked him about his injuries, he said “he would rather not talk about it” and that “accidents happen.”
While police were questioning Barber about why he was at the apartment complex, officers were notified by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that a Lincoln Navigator was found burned in the woods around 9:52 a.m. off State Road 520 and Highway 50 near Christmas in east Orange County. The license plate matched Kirk’s, the affidavit noted.
According to the affidavit, a witness said they saw a man holding his right arm as he was walking along Highway 50 in the area where the burned car was found.
Around 2:45 p.m., human remains were found burned just south of Haulover Canal and Courtenay Parkway and matched Kirk’s description.
Barber was arrested on grand theft of a vehicle and loitering once the witness identified him on surveillance video moving the Lincoln Navigator and the Honda CRV at the apartment complex.
During a search of Barber’s vehicle on March 7, police said they found evidence that he “planned the death of Kirk, specifically mentioning items needed, routes to take, actions he would need to mask his identity and elude those trying to find him,” according to the probable cause affidavit. Police then found items belonging to Kirk during another search of the vehicle.
“Jessie was a long-time resident of Titusville and North Brevard. She was a kind individual and had a gift to connect to anyone and everyone she met,” Titusville Police Commander Tyler Wright said. “She was known to always be there for anyone and help, regardless of the situation.”
In addition to the murder charge, Titusville police said Barber also faces charges of arson, burglary of an occupied structure, abuse of a dead human body, theft and tampering with evidence.
News 6 uncovered that Barber is also under a restraining order for allegedly stalking Kirk’s niece last year, court records show.
He previously dated Kirk’s niece and is currently facing separate criminal charges for allegedly attempting to burglarize the ex-girlfriend’s former home, according
News 6 is not identifying Barber’s ex-girlfriend by name since she claims to be a victim of stalking and revenge porn.
According to a petition filed in Orange County Circuit Court, the woman said she moved out of the Brevard County apartment she shared with Barber in June and ended their three-year relationship because he was posting sexually explicit photos of her on a pornographic website without consent.
Investigators encourage anyone with additional information related to this case to come forward. Tips can be submitted to 321-567-3900 or by contacting Crime Line at 1-800-423-TIPS.