Sunset Beach(36)
“He told me…” Corey was wheezing, tears running down his face. “He didn’t even wear underwear, because he liked to air out his undercarriage. Swear to God, that’s what he called it. His undercarriage.”
15
After her guest departed, Drue wandered into the kitchen to consider her dinner prospects. In the end, she settled on her default comfort food menu: a bowl of ramen noodles topped with a poached egg and a dollop of her favorite, Cholula Hot Sauce.
She unloaded her backpack onto the card table—a yellow legal pad and some pens she’d swiped from the office, and the documents from the Jazmin Mayes file—and eagerly leafed through the docs, choosing to do a closer read of the questionnaire, transcribed by a CCK intake clerk whose name she didn’t recognize.
Not much information there that she didn’t already have, she thought, setting it aside and picking up what turned out to be a preliminary report by J. Zilowicz, or, as everyone at the law firm called him, Jimmy Zee.
She slurped noodles and jotted notes as she read about the short life and hard times of Jazmin Mayes, as seen through the lens of the investigator.
Victim (Jazmin Mayes) (age 24) is only child of Yvonne Howington, aged 46, of 1372 Hibiscus Way South, St. Petersburg. Father not in picture. No adult criminal record, although mother states daughter got in trouble for fighting in school. Juvenile records not available. However, Ms. Howington volunteered her daughter had two misdemeanor shoplifting arrests, and during second arrest was found to be in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Victim was transferred to diversionary high school (Bayside High) but dropped out at age 17 after becoming pregnant. Following birth of daughter, victim re-enrolled in school and earned GED.
Mother states father of victim’s child was killed in motorcycle accident shortly after birth of the child. She also says daughter quit using any drugs during pregnancy and was taking business classes at University of South Florida. USF registrar’s office confirms.
Subject hired as housekeeper at Gulf Vista Hotel and Resort on 1-12-16. Hotel personnel records produced in discovery indicate Ms. Mayes worked 2–11 p.m. shift, generally Tuesday–Saturday, but occasionally picked up additional shifts. Hotel requires mandatory drug testing and personnel records indicate there were no positive drug tests during her employment.
Mother states victim and victim’s child (Aliyah, 6) lived with her. Mother has no knowledge of whether daughter had boyfriends, but states daughter sometimes “stayed out partying” all night with friends on nights off. Does not know friends’ names, other than Neesa.
On night of 9-15-16, victim clocked in at Gulf Vista Hotel and Resort at 2:45 p.m., nearly an hour late for her shift. Supervisor H. K. Byars stated subject claimed her car broke down on way to work, which was why she was late. Byars also claims victim requested to be allowed to work additional shift, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., which he agreed to because another housekeeper had called in sick.
However, Ms. Howington insists that her daughter would not have asked to work until 7 a.m., because she was due home to take over child care responsibilities so that Ms. Howington could leave for her own job as nurse’s aide at Palms of Pasadena hospital.
Ms. Howington states that the last communication she had from her daughter came at 2:15 p.m. 9-15-16, when daughter called to say her car had overheated and she was forced to take cab to get to work. The vehicle, a 2001 Kia, was subsequently towed to Bayside Towing. According to police inventory, nothing of interest recovered from vehicle.
At 7:30 a.m., 9-16-16, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Investigators S. C. Shumate and R. D. Hernandez arrived at Ms. Howington’s home to notify her of daughter’s death.
She turned the page and found herself staring down at a copy of the coroner’s report and skimmed it quickly, trying to push aside the grisly details, phrases like “ligature strangulation” and “cuts and contusions to face and upper torso consistent with defensive wounds.”
Drue picked up the bowl of ramen and drank the last bit of salty broth. She looked down at the report she’d just read. Set down in black and white like this, Jazmin Mayes’s death might not seem too traumatic. She’d been an unwed teen mother, onetime shoplifter and a high school dropout. But from the looks of things, Jazmin had turned her life around, getting a GED and a steady job, even enrolling in college.
Probably, she’d been trying to make a better life for her own little girl, Aliyah, who loved to read and color pictures of mermaids. Her life had been irrevocably altered. Drue turned the page and found another report written by Jimmy Zee.
Interview with H. K. Byars, former Gulf Vista housekeeping supervisor, 11-25-16, interview took place at Superior Tire Company in Largo, where he is now employed as a salesman. Mr. Byars stated Jazmin Mayes was generally reliable employee, although she had been late to work two or three times due to transportation issues. On night of incident, stated he warned her that she would be placed on probation if she was late to work again. Hotel was at full occupancy that night because of large convention of Shriners, and housekeeping was backed up because of late checkouts and because several banquet rooms were not vacated until past 10 p.m.
Victim was assigned to cleaning banquet rooms and guest rooms in north wing of hotel, which is separated from main building of hotel by covered walkway. Wing consists of three stories of guest rooms, 20 rooms on each floor.