Lakeland Classmates, Friends Shocked At 14-Year-Old's Homicide

LAKELAND, FL – Just over a week after a 14-year-old Lakeland teen was found murdered in his backyard, Lakeland Police detectives say they have identified a person of interest.

However, Detective Russell Hurley of the Lakeland Police violent crimes unit said detectives don’t yet have enough evidence to charge anyone with Rex Honors IV's homicide.

At 4:22 a.m. Tuesday, July 3, Honors’ 21-year-old brother, also named Rex, arrived home at 845 W. Crawford St. to a strange scene.

A table had been broken and the sliding glass door to the back yard was open. When the elder brother walked outside, he discovered his younger brother dead in the yard. Police have not confirmed how Honors died but family members have reported he was found shot. (See related story.)

The Lakeland teen had just completed seventh grade at Southwest Middle School where, by all accounts, he was a good student, especially when it came to math, was well-liked and was always smiling.

On Tuesday, the school posted the following message on Facebook:

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of our student, Rex Honors. Our school family is heartbroken, and our hearts remain with Rex’s family and loved ones.”

The school will be offering individual grief counseling July 11-12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for any students or staff members who are struggling with Honors’ death.

Meanwhile, family and friends are trying to come to terms with the death of the teenager who loved football and was nicknamed Stuffy as a toddler because of his tendency to eat just about anything placed in front of him.

“I still can’t believe that this sweet boy’s life was cut so short by the hands of someone else,” said his former daycare teacher and family friend, Tiffany Mann. “He was my baby – one of a kind. This is truly heartbreaking.”

Mann recalled capturing him on video declaring with a typical preschooler's mispronunciation: “When I grow up, I want to be a poleesh offisher.”

“Now he will never even make it to the eighth grade. This is completely senseless," she said.

Funeral services will take place Saturday, July 14 at Greater New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1125 N. New York Ave., Lakeland, at 1 p.m. A viewing is scheduled for Friday, July 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Coney Funeral Home, 1404 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lakeland.

Honors is survived by his father, Rex Honors Jr., his mother, Antionette Tinsley, his brothers, Rex and Tae, and his sisters, Rexia and Rexyanna.

Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to contact Hurley at (863) 834-8973 or by email at Russell.Hurley@Lakelandgov.net.

Images via Tiffany Mann

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