Arrest Made in Gulfport Homicide

GULFPORT, FL – A 25-year-old man faces murder charges after Gulfport Police say they connected him to the March shooting death of Michael Dayton.

Jeffrey Stephens was charged in the case Monday after investigators said witness statements and physical evidence pointed to him as the shooter. Stephens is currently in prison on unrelated charges and now faces the murder count, the agency wrote in an email to media.

Dayton, 41, was shot in the 1400 block of 52nd Street South on March 29. Police, at the time, said they were responding to a call about shots fired around 2 a.m. when they found Dayton conscious and breathing. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center where he later died. The initial investigation revealed Dayton was killed while trying to buy crack cocaine.

Stephens is currently in the state prison system following convictions on cocaine possession and battery on an elderly person charges. He was sentenced in June 2015 to serve 1 year, 6 months and 18 days, state records indicate.

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Booking photo of Jeffrey Stephens courtesy of the Gulfport Police Department