Advertisement

St. Petersburg teen faces attempted murder charge in August shooting

 
Cortiz Flowers, 16, faces a charge of attempted murder following his arrest Saturday in connection with a shooting on Aug. 29, according to St. Petersburg police. [St. Petersburg Police Department]
Cortiz Flowers, 16, faces a charge of attempted murder following his arrest Saturday in connection with a shooting on Aug. 29, according to St. Petersburg police. [St. Petersburg Police Department]
Published Sept. 27, 2016

ST. PETERSBURG — A 16-year-old faces a charge of attempted murder in a shooting that took place Aug. 29, according to St. Petersburg police.

Cortiz Flowers, 16, was a passenger in a car that was stopped Saturday with an expired tag on Fourth Street S in the Harbordale neighborhood, police said. He was arrested on drug charges after police said they found him in possession of Dilaudid — an addictive opioid pain medication — and cocaine.

Once in custody, officers learned that Flowers was wanted on an arrest warrant for attempted first-degree murder that was issued for last month's shooting of Erik Corbett, 24.

Flowers got into a spoken and physical altercation with Corbett and two others on Aug. 28, according to St. Petersburg police, and threatened them with a gun.

Flowers then "stated he was going to shoot and kill Corbett," according to police.

The next day, police said Flowers shot Corbett once in the abdomen as he was walking near the 3600 block of 16th Avenue S.

Corbett had been listed in critical condition, police said, but is now recovering.

In addition to the charge of attempted first-degree murder and drug charges, Flowers also faces three counts of aggravated assault. No information on where Flowers was being held was released.