The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly.  This information; however, is subject to changeand may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not berelied upon for statistical or legal purposes. 

WRIGHT, Tavares (B/M)

DC#    H10118

DOB: 02/07/81

­­­Tenth Judicial Circuit, Polk County Case # 0002727

Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Dick Prince

Attorney, Trial: Byron Hileman and David Carmichael –Private

Attorney, Direct Appeal: Byron Hileman – Private

Attorney, Collateral Appeals: CCRC-Middle

Date of Offense: 04/21/00

Date of Sentence: 10/12/05

Circumstances of Offense:

On Friday, April 21, 2000, Tavares Wright and codefendant,Samuel Pitts, murdered David Green and James Felker in a remote orange grove onBarfield Road near Polk City, Florida.  The bodies were discovered onWednesday, April 26, 2000.

David Green and his cousin, James Felker, were approached byWright in a local parking lot in Lakeland and were abducted and murdered sometime after 8:00 p.m. on the night of the 21st.  Several witness testifiedthat Wright informed them that he approached Felkner and Green and asked for acigarette.  When they refused, Wright pulled out a pistol and forced hisway into the back seat of Green’s vehicle.  Wright then drove the victimsand their car to an apartment complex to pick up Pitts.

Wright and Pitts then drove the victims approximately tenmiles to a remote orange grove in Polk City.  When the victims insistedthey had nothing to give the assailants, they were shot.  Each victim hadbeen shot three times.  Green’s body was found face-up, with bullet woundsin his chest and head.  In his outstretched hand, was a wallet thatcontained Green’s license.  Felker’s body was face-down, with three bulletwounds to his head.  Green’s cause of death was determined to be gunshotwounds to the head.  Felker’s cause of death was determined to be gunshotwounds to the head, one by a .380-caliber projective to the forehead and two bya shotgun blast to the back of the head.

Wright and Pitts took a black bag with computer tools, aPolaroid camera and a Nextel cell phone from the stolen vehicle.  The bagwith the computer tools and the Polaroid camera were pawned, while Wright gavethe cell phone to a teenage acquaintance.

Codefendant Information:

Samuel Lee Pitts

Samuel Lee Pitts was tried separately for the murders ofGreen and Felker.  Pitts was convicted of two counts of first-degreemurder and other offenses related to this incident.  He received sentencesof life imprisonment for the murders.

Additional Information:

A Jury Trial was held before the Honorable Dick Prince, CircuitCourt Judge, on 03/03/03 which resulted in a mistrial on 03/27/03.  Asecond trial was held before the same judge on 09/09/03 until 10/10/03, whichresulted in a mistrial due to a hung jury on 10/12/03.  The third trialwas held before the same judge from 10/18/03 until 11/12/04. 

Wright’s mother abused alcohol and cocaine whilepregnant.  Wright was born with an abnormally small head and suffered twohead injuries as a child.  Wright has an IQ of 77, which is consideredborderline mental retardation.  He has damage to his frontal lobes.

Current Incarceration History in the State of Florida:

Trial Summary:

05/11/00         Indicted as follows:

                                   Count I:          First-Degree Murder (David Green)

                                   Count II:         First-Degree Murder(James Felker)

                                   Count III:        Carjacking with a Firearm

                                   Count IV:        Armed Robbery

                                   Count V:         Armed Robbery

                                   Count VI:        Armed Kidnapping

                                   Count VII:      Armed Kidnapping

11/13/04         Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment

11/16/04         Jury vote waived in penalty phase

10/12/05         Sentenced as follows:

                                   Count I:          First-Degree Murder – Death

                                   Count II:         First-Degree Murder –Death

                                   Count III:        Carjacking with a Firearm– Life in Prison

                                   Count IV:        Armed Robbery – Life inPrison

                                   Count V:         Armed Robbery – Lifein Prison

                                   Count VI:        Armed Kidnapping – Life inPrison

                                   Count VII:      Armed Kidnapping – Life in Prison

Appeal Summary:

Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal

FSC# 05-2212

19 So.3d 277

12/05/05          Appeal filed

09/03/09          FSC affirmed the conviction and sentence

09/24/09          Mandate issued

State Circuit Court – 3.851 Motion

CC# 00-02727

(Pending)

11/05/10          Motion filed.

Case Information:

On 11/15/07, Wright filed his initial brief in the FloridaSupreme Court, raising the following issues on appeal: (1) the trial courterred and abused its discretion when it denied the defendant’s motion in limineto exclude collateral crimes evidence, which then became a feature of the trialand caused a prejudicial effect to outweigh its probative value; (2) the trialcourt erred in denying the defendant’s motions that the Florida deathsentencing statutes are unconstitutional under the Fifth, Sixth, and FourteenthAmendments of the United States Constitution as shown in Ring v. Arizona; (3)the trial court erred in finding it proven beyond a reasonable doubt that thesemurders were aggravated by the circumstance that they were committed in a cold,calculated, and premeditated manner; and (4) the trial court erred in findingit proven beyond a reasonable doubt that these murders were aggravated by thecircumstance that they were committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventinglawful arrest.  On 09/03/09, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed theconviction and sentence.

On 11/05/10, Wright filed a 3.851 Motion in Circuit Court. This motion is pending.

________________________________________________________________________

Report Date:   09/10/09          MJH

Approved:       09/10/09          RRM

Updated:         11/10/10          MJH