Murder Suspect Arrested After Police Raid at Island Boys’ Home
Written by SOURCE on February 8, 2022
TikTok stars Island Boys had their home raided by a SWAT team on Monday, and a 20-year-old murder suspect was arrested as a result.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Andrew James Thomas was identified in the shooting of 8-year-old Ronziyah Atkins three days before, per WPBF. A search warrant was executed at the Coral Springs home, but the social media duo was not implicated in the investigation.
The Island Boys’ manager Dovi Bezner told the station that Thomas crashed on their couch two days before the raid, and that they had “no idea any of this was going on.”
“We just knew him as a quiet kid and he would come and hang out and do his thing and go back to whatever he got going on but we had no clue about any of these allegations toward him,” Benzer said. “We just knew him as a good person, someone who grew up with the Island Boys.”
Alex Vanegas, who is part of the Island Boys, told the station that he cried when he found out about the first-degree murder charge against Thomas, who in 2019 was arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to six years probation. Thomas faces charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm in the shooting, which has since been confirmed to be a drive-by. Shots were fired on Sunday at the same home where the girl was killed, but no one was hit, according to authorities.
Witnesses say the girl was shot outside of her home when she was playing with family members, per WPBF.
