JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man has been charged with the murder of a 72-year-old man who was found dead five months ago after forcing him to take fentanyl, Jacksonville police said.
The victim, Arthur Bass, was found naked near a kayak launch near 83 Chelsea St. in Brooklyn on June 2, a JSO incident report states.
Following a five-month investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Javaris Bowman, 26, for charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping, and burglary.
Detectives discovered Bass' body and found bruising and lacerations on Bass' body and his death was later determined to be a homicide., the incident report states.
According to the report, a woman received images of a deceased man from Bowman's half-brother.
The report said Bowman was the driver of a vehicle spotted by surveillance footage around Chelsea Street around 10 p.m. June 1. The report said four people entered and exited Cascade Apartment, where the victim lived, before leaving at 8:30 p.m.
A witness said she saw Bowman and another man break into an apartment and that they had kidnapped a man "in an altercation over money." Another witness said the dispute was over a JEA bill.
Officers obtained a search warrant for an orange Mitsubishi Outlander with officers finding blood in the passenger compartment and two sets of shoes in the vehicle, the report said. Blood on the shoes matched the DNA profile of Bass after testing.
The report said Bowman was involved in an early morning crash on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway on June 2 driving a Saturn Ion that was spotted near Cascade Apartments. Officers found blood in the trunk of the Saturn Ion. A suspect told officers Bowman showed him a video of the victim bound and Bowman explained he would have received five years in prison had he not killed the man, the report said. The man said Bowman told him he forced the man to overdose on fentanyl.
Bowman was located Nov. 21 and arrested in the 900 block of Eaverson St. He was taken to the Police Memorial Building for an interview and booked into the Pretrial Detention Facility. His bond was set at $250,000.
