Teen Dies in Cellphone Deal Robbery, Raising Questions About 'Safe Exchange' Programs

Antoine Myers, 19, died Monday after being shot in the head during a cellphone transaction that started at a Fort Pierce Walmart and ended in a hail of gunfire on a St. Lucie West boulevard — and his death is reopening uncomfortable questions about whether this region's "safe exchange zone" programs are reaching the people who need them most.

Myers and Jermonti Johnson, 19, both from Georgia, were visiting the Fort Pierce area when they were shot inside a white Tesla at approximately 6:36 p.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of NW St. Lucie West Boulevard, according to the Port St. Lucie Police Department. Johnson suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and is expected to survive. Myers did not.

Port St. Lucie Police Chief Leo Niemczyk said the transaction was not a conventional phone sale. The victims, he said, had contacted suspects asking them to buy and activate phones on their behalf — phones the victims did not want registered in their own names.

"They weren't out looking to randomly commit a crime against innocent people in the community," Niemczyk said at a Monday briefing. "They actually were in the process of doing business with these individuals and that obviously went bad."

Niemczyk said the victims had "less than ethical reasons" for keeping the phones out of their names, a characterization that drew notice but did not change the legal calculus: robbery at gunpoint is a violent felony regardless of the circumstances that preceded it.

Police have arrested two people in connection with the shooting. A third suspect, Norrien Morris Casminski, 18, remains at large and is wanted on charges of attempted second-degree murder, robbery with a firearm, and grand theft. Casminski has a prior criminal history that includes burglary, grand theft, and violation of probation. Investigators consider him dangerous and potentially armed; the firearm used in the shooting has not been recovered. Anyone with information is urged to call 911 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS.

The transaction's trajectory — from a public Walmart parking lot to a secondary, less-trafficked location where the shooting occurred — is a pattern law enforcement across the country has spent years trying to interrupt. Both the Port St. Lucie Police Department and the Fort Pierce Police Department have designated "safe exchange zones" at their facilities, lit and camera-monitored spaces explicitly promoted for peer-to-peer transactions arranged online or by phone Officials said.

Whether those zones were ever communicated to Myers and Johnson — visitors from out of state, conducting an informal transaction — is unknown. No public awareness campaign for either program could be identified in recent department communications reviewed for this report Officials said.

St. Lucie County has seen a pattern of transaction-related violent crime in recent years, though comprehensive local data on such incidents has not been compiled or publicly released by any county agency Officials said.

The Sentinel sought comment from PSLPD on the current status of its safe exchange zone program, including whether the department tracks how often the zones are used and what outreach is directed at transient or out-of-county residents. A department spokesperson did not respond by press time.

The investigation into the shooting remains active. Niemczyk confirmed Monday that charges and case details for the two arrested suspects had not yet been fully processed for public release Officials said.

Myers' family could not be reached for comment Monday. He was 19 years old.

The next development to watch: whether St. Lucie County commissioners or either police department moves to formalize, fund, or expand safe exchange zone outreach in the wake of Myers' death — and whether Casminski is apprehended before he can be linked to additional incidents.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.