FORT MYERS -- One murder suspect is the son of a youth football coach. Another is a twin who, at 19, has a 4-year-old son.

A third is a high school quarterback now in the same jail as his father -- who was convicted of murder earlier this year.

The young men arrested in the death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor grew up in the hardscrabble neighborhoods of Fort Myers and had not escaped brushes with police. Though none held extensive criminal pasts.

Their lives intersected over the years on Florida's Southwest Coast -- but only brushed indirectly with the man they are accused of killing.

More details of their lives emerged Saturday as three appeared in Lee County circuit court, where they were each denied bond. Venjah Hunte, 20, Eric Rivera, 17, and Charles Wardlow, 18, were charged with felony murder, home-invasion robbery with a firearm and armed burglary.

Jason Scott Mitchell, 19, faces the same counts. He will make his first appearance in court Sunday morning.

Police took confessions from at least two, Rivera and Wardlow, their attorneys said.

Investigators believe Rivera is the shooter. His attorney, Wilbur C. Smith III, told reporters he had heard the allegation but declined to discuss it.

Under Florida law, anyone who commits a violent felony in which a death occurs can face a murder charge.

On Saturday, detectives continued their investigation. There may be other suspects, Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker said.

Miami--Dade homicide detectives in unmarked cars and police Saturday could be seen scouring a stretch of Alligator Alley, the stretch of Interstate 75 that connects South Florida to the West Coast, near the west-bound toll plaza.

A gun and getaway car have yet to be recovered.

Police say the four men broke into Taylor's Palmetto Bay home intent on stealing, not killing.

At least one, Mitchell, had attended a birthday party at the home for Taylor's sister in recent months. Also, Wardlow is a cousin of the man dating Taylor's sister, who had been staying at the Palmetto Bay home off-and-on.

Detectives believe family members may have bragged about Taylor's wealth.

Police say the men did not know Taylor was home. The former University of Miami star, wielding a machete, surprised the burglars in his bedroom as his girlfriend and daughter hid under the covers.

''One of the participants had a firearm. Sean Taylor was shot by one of the participants during the commission of the armed burglary,'' according to an arrest report authored by Miami-Dade Detective Juan Segovia.

Their arrests left relatives of the suspects shocked and consumed by the weight of the national spotlight.

''It's been hard. This right here should have never happened to our family. We're nothing like that. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. We don't steal. My brother is not a thug,'' said Scottie Mitchell, 19, Jason's twin.

Accused of killing a football star, at least two -- Rivera and Wardlow -- had been high school football players themselves. They played locally for Dunbar High and for the Florida Christian Institute, which caters to at-risk students with learning disabilities.

Rivera ''was a quarterback who played a little [defensive back]. He liked sports a lot,'' said his father, Eric Rivera Sr., a furniture deliveryman and Pop Warner football coach.

The younger Rivera had attended Dunbar High and is a senior at FCH, said Michael Curry, 16, one of his best friends.

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