Victim (Jazmin Mayes) (age 24) is only child of Yvonne Howington, aged 46, of 1372 Hibiscus Way South, St. Petersburg. Father not inpicture. No adult criminal record, although mother states daughter got in trouble for fighting in school. Juvenile records not available. However, Ms. Howington volunteered her daughter had two misdemeanor shoplifting arrests, and during second arrest was found to be in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Victim was transferred to diversionary high school (Bayside High) but dropped out at age 17 after becoming pregnant. Following birth of daughter, victim re-enrolled in school and earned GED.
Mother states father of victim’s child was killed in motorcycle accident shortly after birth of the child. She also says daughter quit using any drugs during pregnancy and was taking business classes at University of South Florida. USF registrar’s office confirms.
Subject hired as housekeeper at Gulf Vista Hotel and Resort on 1-12-16. Hotel personnel records produced in discovery indicate Ms. Mayes worked 2–11 p.m. shift, generally Tuesday–Saturday, but occasionally picked up additional shifts. Hotel requires mandatory drug testing and personnel records indicate there were no positive drug tests during her employment.
Mother states victim and victim’s child (Aliyah, 6) lived with her. Mother has no knowledge of whether daughter had boyfriends, but states daughter sometimes “stayed out partying” all night with friends on nights off. Does not know friends’ names, other than Neesa.
On night of 9-15-16, victim clocked in at Gulf Vista Hotel and Resort at 2:45 p.m., nearly an hour late for her shift. Supervisor H. K. Byars stated subject claimed her car broke down on way to work, which was why she was late. Byars also claims victim requested to be allowed to work additional shift, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., which he agreed to because another housekeeper had called in sick.
However, Ms. Howington insists that her daughter would not have asked to work until 7 a.m., because she was due home to take over child care responsibilities so that Ms. Howington could leave for her own job as nurse’s aide at Palms of Pasadena hospital.
Ms. Howington states that the last communication she had from herdaughter came at 2:15 p.m. 9-15-16, when daughter called to say her car had overheated and she was forced to take cab to get to work. The vehicle, a 2001 Kia, was subsequently towed to Bayside Towing. According to police inventory, nothing of interest recovered from vehicle.
At 7:30 a.m., 9-16-16, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Investigators S. C. Shumate and R. D. Hernandez arrived at Ms. Howington’s home to notify her of daughter’s death.
She turned the page and found herself staring down at a copy of the coroner’s report and skimmed it quickly, trying to push aside the grisly details, phrases like “ligature strangulation” and “cuts and contusions to face and upper torso consistent with defensive wounds.”
Drue picked up the bowl of ramen and drank the last bit of salty broth. She looked down at the report she’d just read. Set down in black and white like this, Jazmin Mayes’s death might not seem too traumatic. She’d been an unwed teen mother, onetime shoplifter and a high school dropout. But from the looks of things, Jazmin had turned her life around, getting a GED and a steady job, even enrolling in college.
Probably, she’d been trying to make a better life for her own little girl, Aliyah, who loved to read and color pictures of mermaids. Her life had been irrevocably altered. Drue turned the page and found another report written by Jimmy Zee.
Interview with H. K. Byars, former Gulf Vista housekeeping supervisor, 11-25-16, interview took place at Superior Tire Company in Largo, where he is now employed as a salesman. Mr. Byars stated Jazmin Mayes was generally reliable employee, although she had been late to work two or three times due to transportation issues. On night of incident, stated he warned her that she would be placed on probation if she was late to work again. Hotel was at full occupancy that night because of large convention of Shriners, and housekeeping was backed up because of late checkouts and because several banquet rooms were not vacated until past 10 p.m.
Victim was assigned to cleaning banquet rooms and guest rooms in north wing of hotel, which is separated from main building of hotel by covered walkway. Wing consists of three stories of guest rooms, 20 rooms on each floor.
Interesting, Drue thought, that Jazmin Mayes’s former supervisor no longer worked at the hotel. But maybe not too surprising. Having worked at bars and restaurants off and on for most of her adult life she knew firsthand that most hospitality-related jobs in Florida had high rates of turnover.
She turned the page and found another of Zee’s reports.
Interview with Brian Shelnutt, Gulf Vista Security Chief, 2-10-17. Took place at Gulf Vista Hotel and Resort, where he is still employed.
Shelnutt states that security cameras were located in all hallways of guest wing, lobby, elevators and hotel kitchen and parking areas. Gulf Vista is a gated resort, with two full-time security guards manning entrance to resort property from Gulf Boulevard. Guests use hotel room key cards to enter and exit parking lot. Employee parking located on lower level of three-story parking deck on north side of hotel. This area has separate key-card entry and employees are restricted from using guest parking.
Subject states that he viewed all relevant camera footage of 9-15-16 and 9-16-16, at direction of investigators from Pinellas Sheriff’s Office. States he no longer has access to video footage but he states his best recollection is of seeing video of victim using key card to enter room on first floor of north wing at approximately 11:00 p.m. Victim seen pushing large housekeeping cart and vacuum cleaner into guest room and exiting at 1:30 a.m. Next seen pushing cart on service elevator and ground floor walkway to hotel laundry room. Access to area is limited to employees with master key card.
Shelnutt states exterior video camera footage showed several other housekeepers and engineering employees entering and exiting laundry room before and during time victim was in room, but novideo showed her exiting the room, which did not have operational interior video cameras at time of incident.
Why not have cameras inside a large commercial laundry room? Drue wondered. She noted that Zee’s report specified “operational” video cameras. She made a note to herself to see if any other documents in the file referred to video cameras. She turned the page to read more.
At approximately 4:45 a.m. on 9-16-16 Shelnutt states he received a phone call at home from security guard Eli Greene, telling him that the body of a housekeeping employee had been discovered in rolling laundry hamper in laundry room. Shelnutt said Greene was called to laundry room by another housekeeper, Lutrisha Smallwood, who was in room, loading used guest linens into washer, when she uncovered body of an African-American woman, later identified as Jazmin Mayes. Shelnutt says he advised Greene to call 911 and seal off area, which he subsequently did, until arrival of Treasure Island PoliceDepartmentofficers. Shelnutt said he called hotel manager at home to alert him of the incident, then drove directly to the hotel, arriving at 5:45 a.m, where he was met by deputies. He states police did not allow him to enter the crime scene, but he was shown a photo of the victim, who he was able to identify as hotel employee Jazmin Mayes. Shelnutt called Byars at home, and Byars subsequently met with officers to share next-of-kin notification.
Asked about victim’s claim of sexual harassment, Shelnutt stated quite strongly that to his knowledge Jazmin Mayes never complained of harassment to him or any other hotel management.
Zee’s next interview was with Lutrisha Smallwood, who’d discovered her coworker’s body.
Met with Lutrisha Smallwood, 25, on 5-17-17, at Publix in Treasure Island, where she is now employed in bakery as apprentice cake decorator.Subject states that on 9-16-16, she entered laundry room at resort at approximately 4:30 a.m. No one else was in room. She stated that she was annoyed to find cart full of soiled linens that should have been washed, folded and dried by someone on previous shift. Cart was located in back of room, some distance from bank of washers and dryers. She said she pushed cart, which is on casters, toward washing machines, noting that it was unusually heavy. When she unloaded first armful of sheets and towels she said she encountered a sheet with bloodstains, that seemed to be wrapped around a large object. Upon moving sheet she said she saw a woman’s foot. She fled area and called security on hotel-issued radio. At that point, she said, Eli Greene met her in hallway outside laundry room, and instructed her to wait for police in the hotel security office, which she did. Subject said she had known victim for only a few months, and had limited contact with her since they usually worked on different shifts at hotel. Subject said victim had never complained to her about harassment from any employees at hotel, and said she had never experienced harassment at hotel. She also stated that she believed victim’s closest friend at hotel, a woman named Neesa, was fired in weeks following victim’s death. Has no knowledge of Neesa’s last name or current whereabouts. On checking personnel records, appears woman she referred to is Neesa Vincent, who was a housekeeper until she was discharged by hotel management on 9-27-16. Reason given for discharge was chronic absenteeism. Phone number for Neesa Vincent in hotel records no longer connected. Visited Bay Pines Trailer Park on 5-20-17, man living in trailer listed as subject’s address states he was Neesa Vincent’s boyfriend, but she moved out not long after losing job. He has no knowledge of her current whereabouts.
Drue closed the folder and rubbed her eyes. There were more documents, but they could wait. She’d been sitting and reading for what seemed like hours. She walked over to the sliding-glass doors and stepped out onto the deck. She stared up at the sky. The moon was only a crescent tonight. A faint breeze stirred the sea oats at the edge of the dunes closest to the house.She would have loved to have taken a walk on the beach this time of night, but her knee was still swollen and she’d been so absorbed in reading the Jazmin Mayes file she hadn’t noticed how late it had gotten. After nine, and tomorrow was a school day.
“Hey!” a man’s soft voice called from the beach. She walked over and saw Corey, her new friend. He’d changed into walking shorts and a white tee and was holding a package in his hand. “I brought you something. But I can come back another time if I’m disturbing you.”
“No, no,” Drue replied. “Come on up. I was just getting ready to turn off the lights and head to bed.”
His footsteps shook the weathered deck boards. When he grew closer, she saw he was holding a roll of some kind of tape.
“This is K-tape,” he said. “Kinesiology tape. We use it in the clinic to stabilize joints. I’ve always got rolls of it in my car and at the condo. Tools of the trade. I thought, if you want, I could show you how to tape your knee. The knee brace would be better, but I get that it’s hot and unwieldy.”
“Oh yeah,” Drue said, gesturing for him to come into the house. “I’ve used K-tape before, when I banged up my shoulder.” She slapped her forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
