Business partners shoot each other dead because of ‘ongoing dispute,’ Florida cops say

Two business partners shot each other dead because of an “ongoing dispute,” according to a Florida sheriff’s office.

The partners, Akeido Bennett, 31, and Xavier Figueroa, 39, were killed at around 3:10 p.m. on Dec. 29 in Lakeland, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The shooting occurred outside of a business located off of U.S. 92 in northeastern Lakeland, the sheriff’s office said. The westbound lane of the highway was temporarily closed during the investigation.

The sheriff’s office did not name the business or say if it was the same one Bennett and Figueroa owned.

A Google Maps search of the area shows Martinez Auto Solutions, LLC, and Service on Site of Central Florida, Inc, at the address where the shooting occurred. Neither Bennett nor Figueroa are listed as registered agents or officers of either business, according to a Florida Department of State search.

The sheriff’s office did not answer questions about what kind of business Bennett and Figueroa owned or the nature of their dispute.

Figueroa died at the scene of the shooting, and Bennett tried to flee in a truck but died of a gunshot wound, the sheriff’s office said.

“This was an avoidable tragedy stemming from a disagreement between business partners,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “We all have an obligation to our friends, our families, and society at large to talk things out instead of turning to violence. These men would still be alive today, and their families would not be grieving, had they been able to work out their differences civilly.”

Obituaries for the men could not be found online.

Lakeland is about 35 miles northeast of Tampa. Both men were from Kissimmee, which is about 20 miles south of Orlando.