Man accused of killing teen boy’s killer after a funeral is behind bars, cops say
.png "Derrick Peoples was arrested and charged with killing Royce Freeman, who Riviera Beach police say killed Terrance Jackson, a 15-year-old Deerfield Beach High football player, after a funeral in February at Victory City Church.")
A Riviera Beach funeral ended with two people dead in early February. Twenty days later, police arrested one of the men accused of killing one of the two people.
Derrick Peoples, 19, was arrested Friday and charged with murder in the death of Royce Freeman, 47. Police say Freeman, before he died, shot and killed Terrance Jackson, a 15-year-old Deerfield Beach High School football player, who was attending the funeral on Feb. 1, Riviera Beach police said. Shanita Miller, 30, was also shot, although police reports did not indicate who shot her. She is recovering from her injuries.
At the time of the shooting it was unclear what happened, but surveillance video revealed new details, according to an arrest report.
Just after the funeral, a large crowd amassed in the front of Victory City Church, 163 W. 20th St., in Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County. A car drove up and a fight started in the crowd. The car suddenly sped into the crowd, hitting several people while others dodged out of the way, police said.
As the car sped away and the crowd reassembled, a second fight broke out. Shortly after, a third fight erupted and Freeman joined in. He is seen on surveillance video fighting Jackson. Seconds later, Jackson fell to the ground and Freeman’s left hand rose into the air.
Freeman walked closer to the camera and a gun was visible in his left hand, police said.
Curtis Quinn, who was dressed as a pallbearer, ran up to Freeman pointing a gun at him, the video shows. Freeman then fell to the ground and the crowd quickly dispersed, as if hearing gunshots, police said.
Freeman then crawled onto the sidewalk behind a parked car as Quinn ran away. As people attended to Freeman, Peoples walked up to them. Police say the video shows Peoples picking up Freeman’s gun, racking it and shooting Freeman.
One of the four shots Freeman died from was an “execution-style” head shot that police say came from Peoples.
Peoples has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held at a Palm Beach jail with no bond.
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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