{"id":67643,"date":"2025-12-02T06:51:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T06:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67643\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T06:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T06:51:13","slug":"victim-identified-after-body-found-in-fire-damaged-fort-pierce-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67643\/","title":{"rendered":"Victim identified after body found in fire-damaged Fort Pierce home"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The sheriff’s office identified the victim in a homicide and suspected arson after a man was found dead inside a fire-damaged home on Friday night. <\/p>\n

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office (SLCSO) provided new details in the ongoing homicide investigation at 10 a.m. on Monday.<\/p>\n

Deputies initially responded to what appeared to be a residential fire near 600 South Market Avenue at around 8:10 p.m. on November 28. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, investigators discovered 51-year-old Antwan Lamar Daniels’ body inside the home. Early observations suggested possible gunshot wounds, but an autopsy later confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Authorities<\/p>\n

Authorities have not yet disclosed the victim’s identity, but said autopsy results show that the victim suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries. The briefing is expected to shed light on the investigation and any potential suspects. (SLCSO) <\/p>\n

“We believe it to be an isolated; it’s not just some random person that was, you know, targeted in this case,” said Sheriff Richard Del Toro. “I think it was somebody that he knew. There was some sort of altercation that led to this.”<\/p>\n

Detectives suspect the person responsible for Daniels\u2019 death also started the fire. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and the sheriff’s office says the State Fire Marshal is assisting with the arson investigation.<\/p>\n

Authorities believe Daniels had contact with the assailant before the murder, and there are indications of an altercation inside the residence. Investigators are pursuing leads, including nicknames associated with potential persons of interest. Multiple divisions, including Special Investigations and Criminal Investigations, are working the case, conducting interviews and reviewing any available video evidence.<\/p>\n

Officials also confirmed they are looking into reports that Daniels may have been communicating with someone via social media shortly before the fire. Family members indicated he was on a Facebook Live video prior to the incident, though investigators have not verified that detail.<\/p>\n

“It’s all hands on deck. Everybody’s out there, like I said, beating the bushes, making sure not to leave any stone unturned,” said Sheriff Del Toro.<\/p>\n

SEE RELATED: Cat rescued from house fire in Fort Pierce as firefighters uncover suspected murder scene<\/a><\/p>\n

The case presents unique challenges. Deputies initially responded to a fire call, but witness statements quickly shifted the focus to a possible homicide after reports of a suspect fleeing the scene and making suspicious remarks. Investigators executed a search warrant at the home and are working to ensure a thorough and lawful process for prosecution.<\/p>\n

“It’s not like, you know, TV where you solve these things and, you know, two hours, you know, on a TV show. It just takes a long time,” said the sheriff. “I know it’s very frustrating sometimes for the families and believe me, you know, we’re in a day and age where we want everything right now very fast.”<\/p>\n

Anyone with information is asked to contact the St. Lucie County Sheriff\u2019s Office at 772-462-7300 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273-8477.<\/p>\n

Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter<\/a> to get the day’s top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel<\/a> for the biggest stories and can’t miss video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The sheriff’s office identified the victim in a homicide and suspected arson after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-67643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}