Arrest Made In Sugar Club Shooting With AK-47

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- St. Petersburg Police detectives arrested James Williams, 24, for felony murder in the shooting death of 33-year-old Jermaine Long in the parking lot of the Sugar Club Monday, April 2.

Investigators say a fight inside the nightclub at 1239 4th St. S. shortly after 1:30 a.m. spilled into the parking lot.

Williams reportedly used an AK-47 to shoot at a car driving away from the club. Long was a passenger inside the car. He was killed and another man was wounded.

Long had been released from prison 13 days before he was killed. He was sentenced to 10 years for trafficking cocaine and heroine.

The shooting has prompted surrounding residents in Historic Roser Park to demand that the city take action to close down the club, maintaining that it attracts criminal activity and is a threat to surrounding residents. Police have been called to the club 21 times since the beginning of the year.

The city has issued violations against the club for operating as an unlicensed strip club. The club’s owners have a liquor license but the building isn’t zoned for a bar or nightclub. So the owners have been called to appear before the city’s Code Enforcement Board at an April 25 hearing.

Police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez also verified that the police have sent the club a warning letter to “clean up their act,” including curbing altercations and drug activity on the property.

Image via St. Petersburg Police