ST. PETERSBURG — There was no rivalry, no long simmering feud, no bad blood.
All it took to end Marquise Pennywell's life, police said, were a few angry words and a squeeze of the trigger.
The 19-year-old was gunned down early Wednesday morning as he stood outside the Snax Food Store at 1755 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S, according to St. Petersburg police.
A witness said the shooting took place around 3 a.m. after a black Ford Escape nearly ran over someone's foot. An argument between the sport utility vehicle's occupants and Pennywell's friends ensued. The Escape drove away, a witness said, only to return with at least one occupant opening fire on the crowd.
Pennywell, who graduated from Boca Ciega High School in 2008 and was the only one hit, was shot at least three times. Doctors pronounced the St. Petersburg teen dead at 4:31 a.m. Hours later, detectives arrested two suspects.
"I don't see how in the world it got to this point," said police Chief Chuck Harmon. "It was totally and completely unnecessary for somebody to settle this dispute this way. "Not only has one person lost his life … but these two young men are going to be in jail (for the rest of their lives)."
Hector William Pena III, 18, of Naples was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Dontavious Marquel Sparrow, 18, of Fort Myers was arrested on charges of being a principal to second-degree murder and being a principal to attempted murder.
Pena was the shooter, police said, and Sparrow the driver. No other arrests are expected.
The chief credited witnesses with helping capture the two. Police learned that the SUV and the two men were in a nearby neighborhood.
The Escape was found at 2104 10th St. S at about 10:30 a.m. The two men were inside, staying with a relative. Sparrow was hiding in the attic, police said, where four semiautomatic guns were found.
Sparrow also was wanted on an arrest warrant for violating his probation. His first arrest was at age 15 on charges of burglary, and his juvenile record shows charges of vehicle theft and drug possession, according to state records.
Pena's criminal record starts at age 11 with a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon. He also has been charged for unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor, robbery and possession of marijuana, according to records.
Billie J. Blackshear said he witnessed the shooting as he stood by the ice cooler. He said the two sides argued after the near-miss on someone's foot.
The SUV left, then turned around on MLK Street and headed back. The driver pulled up on the other side of the gas station, facing west on 18th Avenue S, and rolled down the passenger-side windows.
Blackshear said he saw guns sticking out of both windows, heard gunfire and saw someone go down. Police, however, said they know of only one gunman.
A woman tried to give Pennywell CPR. Blackshear said the SUV drove away on 18th Avenue S with its lights off.
It was the city's eighth homicide of the year, and the third in the Bartlett Park area.
City Council member Wengay Newton blamed the incident on a lethal mix of easily available weapons and those unable to resolve conflicts any other way.
"Whether someone got their foot ran over or not," he said, "is that something to die for?"
Staff writers Kim Wilmath and Emily Nipps and researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report.
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