Detectives have arrested two people and are seeking a third in the shooting deaths of a couple in a Bradenton home invasion last week.
Around 2 a.m. Monday, SWAT teams from the Bradenton Police Department and Manatee County Sheriff's Office executed search warrants at four locations looking for three suspects they believe shot and killed Ester Deneus and Kantral Brooks while their five children were in the house.
“We didn’t want these guys to be alerted to hitting one house and then hitting another and then one an hour later," said Detective James Rackey, with the Bradenton Police Department. "We wanted to make sure we hit them as quick as possible and wanted to get their phones from them so they could not communicate with anyone else. It worked out with two out of three so far.”
Police arrested Trey Nonnombre and Jimmie Lee Mcnear, both 18 and of Bradenton, and charged them with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted home invasion.
At their first court appearance on Monday afternoon, a judge denied their bonds and called them both a danger to the community.
Police say they are also looking for Terez Jones, 33, of Bradenton and that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
“We are hoping he is still in the area," said Rackey. "We have detectives looking several places for him right now and we hope to have him in custody very soon.”
Early last Thursday, police responded to the 3900 block of Southern Parkway West when a home security alarm system was triggered by a break-in.
Police found Deneus and her boyfriend, Brooks, both 29, shot to death.
They had five children between the ages of 1 and 11 in the home. Police will not say whether the children witnessed the murders.
None of the children were injured.
Surveillance footage shows three masked suspects breaking the windows of the front door of the home and then shooting into it multiple times.
That footage, along with tips through CrimeStoppers and interviews with "cooperating individuals," led to the arrests, said Rackey.
"Watching the video is terrible, knowing (the suspects) had no consideration for the people inside the house," Rackey said. "Knowing they are off the streets, for me, professionally, I’m happy for the family. It has to be a relief for them knowing the people that took their family members from them are off the streets and hopefully will never see the light of day."
Police had said all along the house was targeted.
On Monday, Rackey said narcotics were found in the home - specifically, 14 ounces of powder cocaine and "a couple of bags of rock cocaine."
Rackey said investigators believe Brooks was targeted and "Deneus was just there."
Jones was released from the Manatee County jail on $18,000 bond three days before the homicides occurred.
He had been arrested three days earlier on charges of possession with intent to sell heroin and cocaine, tampering with evidence and attempted escape, according to jail records.
Rackey said Jones shouldn't have been on the streets.
"I understand the justice system," he said. "... We put them in and they bond out, they do something again. That’s going to be a big topic. Should this guy be in jail? Yeah, he should still be in jail. And now he gets out and he’s able to commit a murder. It’s ridiculous."
Nonombre ran as the SWAT team approached but was caught and bitten by a K-9 dog, police said. He was treated and released from Manatee Memorial Hospital.
Mcnear was arrested without incident.
Both 18-year-olds have arrest records, police say and a history with drugs and burglaries.