Background: The We Buy Gold store location in Fort Pierce, Fla., where Lanessa Rodriguez was found dead (Google Maps). Inset (left): Landen Ballard (St. Lucie County Sheriff). Inset (right): Lanessa Rodriguez (Facebook).
A Florida man allegedly made small talk with a store manager before taking out a gun and shooting her to death.
Landen Ballard, 20, is behind bars in the St. Lucie County Jail after being charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. According to an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime, Ballard and two unnamed people went to a We Buy Gold store in Fort Pierce, Florida, where 35-year-old Lanessa Rodriguez was the store manager. After having a "casual conversation," police said Ballard produced a gun and fired multiple shots at Rodriguez, leaving her for dead as he and the woman fled the store.
The unnamed woman who drove Ballard to the store told police that as they drove away, Ballard was allegedly "bragging" and asked, "Is it bad that I have no remorse?"
Police said they responded to a call at 7:12 p.m. on April 28 about a woman who was possibly dead inside the We Buy Gold store. According to the warrant, a colleague who worked at another store location had been trying to contact Rodriguez, and became concerned after not being able to reach her. The colleague went to the Fort Pierce location and found Rodriguez "lying in a pool of blood" behind her desk.
When police arrived, they found several bullet casings and bullet holes in the wall. Rodriguez was declared dead at the scene.
At 11 p.m. the same night, a woman who said she was one of the people who was with Ballard at the store made contact with police in Vero Beach, Florida. After she was brought to the Fort Pierce Police Department, she told investigators that Ballard contacted her that day because he wanted to sell a gold pendant. She said Ballard spoke to a woman whom she believed was Rodriguez on the phone, adding that Rodriguez had previously offered Ballard work.
According to the warrant, the woman who drove stayed in the car while Ballard and the other unnamed man went inside the store. She told police that when Ballard and the other man came out and got back in the car, Ballard said he shot Rodriguez twice then "finished his clip." During their ride, Ballard allegedly asked, "Is it bad that I have no remorse?"
The woman told police that Ballard allegedly discarded the gun and magazine out the passenger side window while they drove. Police later recovered the 9mm handgun on the side of the road. She said Ballard allegedly planned to return to the store so he could rob it, and told the woman to "comply or she would be killed and left in the woods if she refused."
The three reportedly went back to the store, but upon seeing police activity there, they returned to Vero Beach, Florida. After the woman dropped Ballard and the other man off, she went straight to the police.
The alleged shooting was captured on surveillance cameras inside the store. According to the warrant, Ballard came into the store and sat across from Rodriguez. The two "begin to engage in casual conversation," as if they had previously known each other. Ballard was seen "fiddling with his phone" and "bounc[ing] his leg." Police said he then produced a black firearm that was out of Rodriguez's view. As Ballard started to wield the gun, his conversation with Rodriguez continued.
After the two spoke for between two and five minutes, Ballard allegedly raised the gun and fired one shot at Rodriguez, hitting her in the shoulder. She stood up, and Ballard allegedly fired three more shots that hit Rodriguez in the chest. She fell to the floor as Ballard emptied his magazine. After Ballard and the other man left, Rodriguez was seen trying to reach for a phone to call for help in her final moments.
The woman called Ballard while she was at the police station for a second interview. During the call, police said he once again said he had no remorse for the shooting. He also told the women that he was at his parents' house and was planning to leave for New York.
Ballard was arrested at his parents' house and charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He is being held without bond at the St. Lucie County Jail. His next court date was not available.
According to reporting by local news outlet TCPalm, Rodriguez, a transgender woman and fixture on the drag queen circuit, was remembered by her friends as an "incredible person with a huge heart" with a family who loved her. Police identified Rodriguez using her birth name, Lazaro Rodriguez Vega.
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