Hospitalized after shooting himself, Celedonio Sanchez is taken off life support and dies.
By Jeremy Maready
THE LEDGER
Published: Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 11:42 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 11:42 p.m.
WINTER HAVEN | The man Winter Haven police say shot and killed a 19-year-old woman in a Walmart parking lot Tuesday night was identified Thursday as Celedonio Sanchez.
At least, that's the name police say came up in the national fingerprint database for the 22-year-old, who was declared brain dead Wednesday and died Thursday.
He had shot himself during a traffic stop in Lake Wales, police say.
Sanchez, who was a Mexican immigrant and had numerous aliases, was taken off life support Thursday and his body was turned over to the Polk County Medical Examiner's Office, according to police spokesman Sgt. Brad Coleman.
"Whether that was the name he was born with, I don't know," he said.
"But that's the name we're going with."
Winter Haven detectives said Sanchez shot and killed Gloria Michelle Elvira shortly before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Walmart parking lot at 355 Cypress Gardens Blvd.
Sanchez, who had not been identified as the suspect at the time, was stopped by Lake Wales police after the shooting.
As the police officer approached Sanchez during the traffic stop, Sanchez shot himself.
When a Lake Wales police office found Sanchez in his car, he had a gunshot wound to the head and two different fake identification cards, police said.
"Probably, all he would have gotten was a speeding ticket," Coleman said.
"We didn't have any information on the suspect vehicle or anything. He (Sanchez) probably thought he was getting caught (and shot himself)."
Sanchez was flown to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where he died and the confusion about his identity ensued.
Sanchez was declared brain dead at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, but hospital officials didn't take him off life support until an identity was confirmed Thursday, police said.
Family members gave police and hospital staff conflicting identities, Coleman said. The fingerprint identification proved the most reliable.
"We can't get our hands on a birth certificate," he said.
Details about the relationship between Sanchez and Elvira are also limited.
Police know the pair had two children together, a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, and had been living together as a family recently, Coleman said. It was not known whether the two were legally married.
[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. ]
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