DNA on victim, baseball bat leads to arrest in 2020 homicide, says Tallahassee police

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - An arrest has been made in connection to an October 2020 homicide.

60-year-old man Rickey Tremone Brown was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and booked at the Leon County Jail on Wednesday.

According to Tallahassee Police, the investigation began on October 26, 2020, just after 8:30 a.m. when officers were called to a home in the 800 block of Old Bainbridge Road for a welfare check. When officers arrived, they found a man dead inside. Based on the scene, and later an autopsy, the death was ruled a homicide, said the agency.

According to court records, investigators believe the murder weapon was a baseball bat that was found in the living room. The bat had been split in two and matched the shape of wounds found on the victim’s head, stated a probable cause affidavit.

According to TPD, detectives with the agency’s Violent Crimes Unit worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Forensic Laboratory for nearly two years to identify DNA found at the scene. It was eventually linked back to Brown, said TPD.

Court records state Brown’s DNA was found under the victim’s fingernails, on both pieces of the baseball bat, a knife at the scene, as well as other places. Brown also reportedly told officers he had been to the home to smoke crack cocaine, but denied killing anyone and had not interacted with the victim for months.

Brown will make his first appearance in court on the murder charge on Thursday.