PALM BAY, Florida – A Grand Jury in Brevard County indicted 24-year-old Thomas Pastor, Jr. with the charge of First-Degree Premeditated Murder in connection to the shooting death of 48-year-old Michael Akerberg.
Just before midnight on February 11, 2023, Palm Bay Police responded to a 911 call of a gunshot victim at 1035 Cromey Road.
Upon arrival, officers found Akerberg lying unresponsive in the front yard with multiple gunshot wounds.
Akerberg was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators say that witnesses identified Pastor, Jr. as the person who had shot him.
Investigators later learned that Akerberg was engaged to Pastor, Jr.’s mother and was moving into the family home at 1027 Cromey Road when a heated argument began with Pastor, Jr.
The dispute escalated, and Pastor, Jr. allegedly retrieved a firearm from his bedroom and shot Akerberg.
Wounded, Akerberg fled on foot, with Pastor, Jr. allegedly pursuing and shooting him again in the yard of a neighboring residence.
Pastor, Jr. then allegedly fled the scene but soon after surrendered to police at a relative’s home in West Melbourne, Florida.
Police recovered a firearm that they believe was involved in the shooting, and Pastor, Jr. was held without bond in the Brevard County Jail.
The Grand Jury heard testimony from the Brevard Medical Examiner, a Palm Bay Police detective, and a crime scene investigator before returning with the indictment.
No trial date has been set in this case.
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