The Bank of America parking lot was just a few miles from the Ornduff home, and it had been chosen as a meeting place. Louise Ornduffshe showed up ahead of schedule in her Nissan Rogue with Kalaeb behind the wheel. His mother was in the car with him, but the Clearwater woman and her son were shocked when the supposed buyers tried to steal their vehicle instead.
The two suspects, 18-year-old Lasupta Singletary and 17-year-old Jernalen Dreshaw Coleman were waiting for the targets to arrive. They were carrying weapons and prepared to steal the car at once. Kalaeb handed over the keys because he didn’t want to put his life on the line for a Nissan Rouge when the carjackers were armed and dangerous.
Ornduff drew her weapon and fired a single shot as the suspects departed with the stolen vehicle. The bullet just happened to strike Singleton by chance. Coleman continued driving away from the carjacking scene, with his accomplice dying in the seat next to him. Coleman drove Singleton to a hospital, where he left him on a gurney before departing.
The police sought to investigate the youth’s death and discovered that the two were involved in a bank carjacking.
“What they’ll be doing is looking at surveillance videos, talking to witnesses to see when that shot was fired, how far the vehicle was when the shot was fired to determine if self-defense is actually a valid defense here,” said Anthony Rickman, a criminal defense attorney not involved in the case.
The police charged Coleman, Singleton’s accomplice, with second-degree murder and aggravated armed robbery once they learned he had been shot to death as a result of the armed carjacking. Because Singleton died while committing a crime, Coleman was accused of second-degree murder and armed robbery.
“Based on their history, which you can see before you, and the fact they were engaged in an armed robbery, leads something to…to their character, I would say,” said Deputy Chief Eric Gandy.
Users on social media have spoken out about the issue. Many people felt Ornduff was within his rights to fire a warning shot at the fleeing carjackers.
“She was right in what she did and had to, I would have done the same thing had I been in her shoes, and the police and courts should back her up and not take the defense of these criminals, help the police clean up the streets against crime,” one user posted on Facebook.
