Home invasion suspect set for trial in October

PUNTA GORDA — The main suspect in a home invasion from last year is scheduled for a jury trial on Oct. 7.

The defendant has been charged not only with the burglary and attempted robbery of a Port Charlotte home, but also with homicide due to the death of his alleged accomplice during the home invasion.

Shazear Mears, 20, appeared in Charlotte County Court via Zoom on Tuesday for a pretrial conference.

Mears is accused of taking part in a home invasion on Beverly Avenue; at the time, he was 18.

Authorities allege that he was joined by two relatives in the burglary — 33-year-old Barsher Smith and 17-year-old Saleef Stevenson — to extort drugs and money from the residents

Leah Nicole Jenness, Mears’ then-girlfriend, was also identified by authorities as the driver who brought the three men to the Beverly Avenue home.

Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell alleged in a public statement that Smith was shot by the homeowner, after the latter disarmed Mears.

Smith was found dead at the scene by first responders, while Mears was found with gunshot wounds and transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Stevenson and Jenness were also arrested near the reported home invasion site.

As of May this year, Jenness has since pleaded no contest to charges of accessory to causing a homicide during a felony, armed robbery, and aggravated battery.

She received a sentenced of five years in prison, according to court records.

Mears and Stevenson are both facing the same charges, with prosecutors arguing that their enacting the home invasion led to Smith’s death — hence the homicide charge.

During their court appearance on Tuesday, attorneys for both defendants said that they needed some more time to conduct depositions of a witness in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

A deposition for County Medical Examiner Russell Vega is also scheduled for late August.

Circuit Judge Shannon McFee ultimately decided to schedule Mears for a trial to start on Oct. 7, with a Sept. 10 deadline for motions in the case.

Stevenson is scheduled for a Sept. 4 pretrial conference, though his attorney said that he anticipates a mutual resolution before his client goes to trial — in part due to the fact that Stevenson was charged as a juvenile offender.

Both Mears and Stevenson are being held without bond at Charlotte County Jail.

Ethan Maaske, a neighbor of the Beverly Avenue residence, was also arrested shortly after the home invasion. He was not linked to the other suspects, but he was charged with aggravated battery.

He later pleaded no contest to that charge and was sentenced to two years of community control and six years of probation.