BRADENTON, Fla. — After he was shot in the head and killed, a 23-year-old's family is now searching for answers.
"I wish he was here. This shouldn't be happening," Alexis Crawford said while speaking out only to 10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo.
She's still shaken after witnessing her own boyfriend get killed last Thursday. She says losing the one you love is never easy.
"Shot him in front of me. He shot Sam in front of me after pointing the gun towards me twice. The last time he pointed the gun at Sam he pulled the trigger," Crawford said.
Deputies say the shooting happened Thursday morning inside a home at the Mel Mar Village Mobile Home Park. Deputies tried to save Sam, but he died minutes later from a severe gunshot wound.
"In the side of the head. I was just telling him just to stay with me, to keep fighting. I just wanted him to know he wasn't alone," Crawford said.
Detectives say an argument about drugs led up to the shooting. Lexi says Sam had nothing to do with the drugs and the man who's now accused of murder started the incident.
"He woke up just flipping out about his stuff being stolen and he started to flip out on Sam, but it wasn't Sam. He didn't have anything to do with anything that was stolen or anything. Sam was set up that day. They set him up and took an innocent person's life," Crawford said.
Lexi says Samuel was unarmed and sitting at the dining room table when 36-year-old Jeremy Marshall pulled the trigger. Police say he ran away shortly after. He's now charged with murder dangerous depraved without premeditation and is being held without bond.
"He tried to reload the gun to shoot me before he left. If he would've reloaded it I wouldn't be here. I already know that," Crawford said.
She's relieved Jeremy is behind bars but says that isn't enough. She says there were more people in the mobile home when the shooting happened and the gun Jeremy used wasn't his. It was given to him by others she says set Samuel up.
"There was two people that should be arrested along with Jeremy that were involved in this," Crawford said.
Manatee County deputies are still investigating the shooting. We did ask if any more arrests or charges are pending and are still waiting to hear back.
Samuel's family is now fundraising for his funeral and burial. If you'd like to help them you can here.