Arrest Made In Plant City Gas Station Homicide

PLANT CITY, FL — The Plant City Police Department has announced the arrest of a 19-year-old man in connection with an attempted armed robbery and homicide at a gas station last week.

According to the agency, Michael Joseph Beson, 67, of Standish, Mich., was pumping gas at the 2010 N. Wheeler St. Mobile station on Friday around 8:20 p.m. when an armed robbery attempt occurred. While the robbery was thwarted, Beson suffered upper body trauma and died at the scene, the police department wrote in an email to media.

Xavier Quesean Smith was brought into custody Sunday night. Police say officers responded to an unrelated call about shots fired when they spotted Smith, “who fit the general description of a murder suspect given by witnesses at the scene of the crime,” the email said.

At the time of his arrest, police say Smith had possession of a stolen firearm and was also found to have an outstanding warrant for violation of probation.

Smith was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail on first-degree murder and attempted robbery charges, among others. He was being held Monday without bond, jail records showed.

Booking photo courtesy of the Plant City Police Department

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