Sarasota Man Charged With Murder After Woman Found Dead in Apartment; Police Say Flock Camera Alert Led Them to Suspect

A 32-year-old Sarasota man is charged with murder and burglary after a 31-year-old woman was found dead inside an apartment on North Lockwood Ridge Road early Sunday, and police say a Flock license plate camera alert led officers to his car within hours. The Sarasota Police Department identified the suspect as Josue Zepeda-Urbina. He is being held without bond at the Sarasota County Jail.

The arrest comes as Florida governments argue over the same automated cameras that police credit in this case. The state revoked permits for license plate readers on state highway rights-of-way at the end of August, and county commissions from St. Johns to Pinellas have spent the fall debating whether to keep them on local roads.

What police say happened

Officers were called to the Applegate Apartments at 1500 North Lockwood Ridge Road at about 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, after a 911 call, according to the Sarasota Police Department. They found the woman unresponsive inside an apartment, and Sarasota County Fire Department personnel pronounced her dead shortly after 4:30 a.m.

Police said their investigation determined the suspect broke into the apartment, entering without permission while other people were inside. FOX 13 reported that the three felony burglary counts he faces reflect the three people who were inside during the break-in. A witness who knew both the suspect and the woman helped identify him, police said.

Detectives believe the woman and the suspect knew each other, and police described the death as an isolated incident with no ongoing danger to the public. The department has not released the woman's name, the cause of death, a possible motive or the nature of the relationship between the two.

How the Flock camera alert worked

About 5 a.m. Sunday, roughly an hour after the 911 call, officers received an alert from Flock cameras for Zepeda-Urbina's car, WTSP reported. Police stopped the vehicle near the intersection of Beneva Road and Fruitville Road and took him into custody without incident. Police said the cameras helped track him down in his vehicle.

Flock Safety cameras photograph passing vehicles and read their license plates. When a plate that police have entered into the system passes a camera, officers receive an alert. Supporters say that capability is what makes the cameras useful in fast-moving cases like Sunday's; critics say the same network of cameras records the movements of everyone who drives past.

The charges

Zepeda-Urbina is charged with murder and three felony counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling, according to FOX 13. Like every defendant, he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Police said the investigation is continuing.

Police asked anyone with information to call the Sarasota Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or Sarasota Crime Stoppers at 941-366-8477.

WTSP noted that the Sarasota Police Department fired an officer earlier this year for misusing the Flock system and DAVID, the state's driver and vehicle database, an example of the kind of misuse that has fueled criticism of the cameras.

Florida's fight over license plate readers

On Aug. 26, Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the cameras during an appearance at Florida International University, saying he did not want Florida to become "a surveillance state," WLRN reported. Five days later, on Aug. 31, the Florida Department of Transportation issued a memo revoking existing permits for automated license plate recognition systems installed within the rights-of-way of roads on the State Highway System.

The memo cited a "recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways" and concerns about misuse, data privacy and surveillance, and described the original approvals as "temporary by nature." Local agencies were given 30 days to take the devices down, after which FDOT said it would remove any that remained. The order did not apply to privately owned cameras on commercial or private property.

Counties split on local roads

The state order left local roads to local governments, and the results have varied.

In St. Johns County, commissioners voted 3-2 on Oct. 20 to remove automated license plate readers from county road rights-of-way, Action News Jax reported. At that meeting, Sheriff's Office Director Howard Cole told commissioners the agency had found one case of misuse, a detective who searched the system for a vehicle he was buying and was disciplined. "We do not have a single case of anybody searching, stalking, looking for another person or citizen in this county," Cole said.

Pasco County ended its Flock contract in September. In Pinellas County, commissioners on Oct. 27 took no vote on Commissioner Vince Nowicki's resolution to remove Flock cameras from county property and end related contracts and data-sharing agreements, after Commission Chair Dave Eggers said a majority would not support it, Bay News 9 reported. Eggers said the issue should be handled at the state level for consistency.

"It's interesting that folks agree something needs to get done, but nobody wants to do anything," Nowicki said after the meeting, according to Bay News 9. Commissioner Rene Flowers said she supports keeping the cameras but wants data retention cut to seven days, compared with the three years Florida law currently allows.

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri called license plate readers "the greatest public safety invention since the two-way radio" and told commissioners that if the county barred his 73 fixed cameras from county property, he would move them to private property. Gualtieri said there are nearly 300 Flock cameras in Pinellas when police and private cameras are counted. The debate there has also been shaped by a September case in which a former Pinellas deputy was arrested, accused of using a license plate reader database hundreds of times to track a woman, WUSF reported.

What it means for Sarasota and Southwest Florida

The Sarasota case gives camera supporters a fresh example of the technology working as advertised: a suspect identified by a witness, an alert within about an hour and an arrest without incident. Opponents have pointed to cases like the Sarasota officer's firing and the Pinellas deputy's arrest to argue that the systems need tighter rules on who can search them and how long data is kept.

Gualtieri told Pinellas commissioners he expects a statewide bill setting license plate reader rules to be among the first taken up when the Legislature convenes in March 2027. Commissioner Chris Latvala suggested Pinellas could return to the issue in May if lawmakers do not act.

What's next

Zepeda-Urbina remains jailed without bond and will proceed through the court system in the 12th Judicial Circuit, which covers Sarasota County. Police have not yet released the woman's name or cause of death, and detectives are still asking anyone with information to come forward. In Tallahassee, the broader question of how and where Florida police may use license plate readers is expected to land before lawmakers next spring.