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Investigation under way after man found dead in St. Pete alley

 
Carlos Green, 40, was found fatally shot early Monday in an alley east of 27th Street S in St. Petersburg.
Carlos Green, 40, was found fatally shot early Monday in an alley east of 27th Street S in St. Petersburg.
Published Aug. 20, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG — A loud noise awakened Gloria Johnson at 11:15 p.m. Sunday . Her two dogs — Tiny, a miniature Doberman pinscher, and Majestic, a pit bull — would not stop barking, their noses pressed against the fence behind her home in the 1600 block of 27th Street S.

Johnson, 64, ventured outside and peered into a darkened alley, where she saw two figures looking down at something. She went back inside.

Moments later, Johnson said, she heard a car screeching away.

Monday morning, the area was cordoned off with crime scene tape. According to St. Petersburg police, Carlos Antonio Green had been fatally shot in the chest.

Green, 40, had been released from prison July 1 after serving a 15-year sentence for manslaughter, police said. That sentence resulted from the 1998 shooting of Charles Jackson, an 18-year-old football player at Largo High. Authorities said Green shot Jackson in the chest during a confrontation with several youths outside Green's barber shop.

Green had previous convictions on his record for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and possession of marijuana and cocaine. He had been living with relatives since his release, police said. Green's relatives could not be reached for comment.

The alley east of 27th Street South has been a favorite haunt for some, said Johnson, who had let her grass grow tall in part of the side yard to prevent people from cutting through there. But sometimes she clears vegetation, piling it in the alley.

That's where she saw the two figures crouched over something, and where she said part of the body lay as police worked at the scene Monday.

Johnson said she has always left her door open. Her children can come and go that way, she says. Elderly neighbors could stick their heads inside.

She will lock it from now on.

"I have to turn the camera back on the real world," she said.

Researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Andrew Meacham can be reached at ameacham@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2248.