Court documents shed light on four teens charged in Osceola shootings

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Eyewitness News obtained hundreds of court documents that detailed a gruesome murder of Eric Roopnarine and several other shootings in Osceola County this summer.

Four teen suspects appeared in court for the seemingly random crime spree last month.

Eyewitness News learned a $10,000 car insurance payout may have turned Roopnarine into an actual target.

Hundreds of pages of evidence were released in the case against four suspects accused of murder - and shooting up more than a dozen homes around Osceola County.

Most of the documents detail interviews and confessions of Konrad Schafer, David Damus, Victoria Rios and Juan Muriel.

All told the same basic story about the robbery and murder of 22-year-old Roopnarine

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said based on the evidence, it's appropriate that all four are charged.

"This is a very strong prosecution case -- you can look for pleas in this case and those pleas will be designed to avoid the death penalty," Sheaffer said.

In a detailed account Rios allegedly told investigators that the four suspects went to the victim's home intending to rob and kill him and using a ruse that Rios was a prostitute.

She said she stood at a door and watched Damus shoot Roopnarine and then Schafer stab him.

Rios is also facing murder charges.

"Doesn't mean she participated in the actual murder but she participated in the underlying felony that makes her just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger or did the stabbing," Sheaffer said.

Muriel is also charged with murder, but is only accused of driving the getaway vehicle that night.

The report said the victim begged for his life after turning over $300. The suspects said they believed he had much more.

The main discrepancy in the four confessions is that both the suspects who are accused of the actual killing denied their rolls and pointed fingers at each other.

Documents also gave some new insight into Shafer's father, who Eyewitness News tried to talk to as he walked out of jail on charges related to his son's case last month.

In an interview with police, Lothar Schafer told officers he bought a highpoint rifle because his son was reportedly having problems with people in Poinciana.

That weapon and ammunition are what police believe the teens ultimately used to kill Roopnarine.

WFTV