'Pure evil' brothers, aged 18 and 19, are arrested for the brutal murder of a 21-year-old man 'who they lured with promise of sex before stabbing and bludgeoning him to death then dumping his body in orange grove'
Authorities in Florida have arrested two teenage brothers for the brutal murder of a 21-year-old man, who they say was lured to his death with the promise of sex before being stabbed, beaten with a baseball bat and dumped in an orange grove.
Danne Frazier was reported missing by his mother on November 4 after failing to return from work at a Publix supermarket warehouse.
Six days later, a work crew found the 21-year-old's battered body under a pile of debris in Lake Wales and contacted the Polk County Sheriff's Department, which determined that Frazier's death resulted from foul play.
On Saturday, investigators acting on a tip arrested 18-year-old Angel Lobato, and his 19-year-old brother, JoJo Lobato, whom Sheriff Grady Judd described during a Monday press conference as 'pure evil in the flesh.'
'They bragged about [the murder],' Judd said of the Lobato brothers. 'They talked about how... they have street cred, they have their stripes, they [would] be respected on the streets because they'd done this murder.'
According to the sheriff, the suspects planned the murder for three weeks after Frazier tended to a cut on JoJo's wrist and then befriended both him and his brother on social media.
Angel Lobato, 18 (left), and JoJo Lobato, 19 (right), were arrested on Saturday on first-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing and beating Frazier to death to earn 'street cred'
JoJo and Angel Lobato were each charged with first-degree murder and eight other criminal counts, including conspiracy, robbery with a firearm, grand theft, accessory after the fact, and tampering with evidence.
Deputies also arrested the Lobatos' alleged accomplice, 19-year-old Scott Engle, charging him with tampering with physical evidence, accessory after the fact, grand theft, possession of a stolen debit card and related counts.
All three suspects remained in the county jail without bond as of Tuesday morning.
Scott Engle, 19, was arrested on a charge of accessory after the fact for allegedly trying to help the Lobatos withdraw money from Frazier's bank account
According to the sheriff, the incident began unfolding at around 2am on November 4, when Frazier left work at the Publix warehouse in Lakeland and never arrived home.
While cops were looking for Frazier, they found out that someone had tried and failed to access the missing man's money using his credit card, and that Angel Lobato had received cash from his account twice through a cellphone app on the morning of Frazier's disappearance.
Two days later, officers with the Lakeland Police Department interviewed Angel, who denied knowing anything about Frazier's disappearance.
On the evening of November 6, Flagler County sheriff's deputies pulled over a silver Chevy Impala with Frazier's license plates. The driver, later identified as JoJo Lobato, fled on foot, leaving behind his passenger and brother, Angel Lobato, who claimed that he did not know who owned the car.
Deputies seized the car as evidence but released Angel Lobato because they did not have sufficient probable cause at the time to detain him.
On November 10, a work crew were looking at a property in the area of Helicopter and Tindel Camp roads in Lake Wales when they came upon Frazier's lifeless body, which was buried beneath some underbrush and a log.
Frazier was lured to his death with the promise of sex with JoJo Lobato
Polk County sheriff's deputies obtained arrest warrants for the Lobato brothers and apprehended them at an auto parts store in Lake Wales on Saturday.
Sheriff Judd said that during questioning, JoJo and Angel Lobato both admitted to killing Frazier.
'Their confession was absolutely horrific,' he said. 'Their confession was how proud they were,' he said.
Judd said the brothers arranged for JoJo to meet up with Frazier after work for a sexual encounter.
Frazier picked up the 19-year-old in his car in downtown Central Park in Winter Haven and drove him to Lake Howard, where the sheriff said Angel was laying in wait with a baseball bat.
JoJo was armed with a knife and began stabbing Frazier, who fought back, according to Judd. That is when Angel attacked the victim with the bat and bludgeoned him in the head.
Polk County Sheirff Grady Judd held a press conference on Monday to announce the arrest of the Lobato brothers, whom he described as 'pure evil in the flesh'
The brothers then allegedly loaded the victim's body into the car, drove about 30 minutes out to Lake Wales and dumped it in the orange grove.
The pair later picked up Engle and took him around to different ATMs to try and withdraw money from Frazier's bank account using his stolen card.
When the pair were arrested and questioned by police, Judd said they showed no remorse, and instead were 'gleeful' and 'euphoric.'
A visibly upset Sheriff Judd described Frazier as a 'good kid' who was 'just trying to be a friend,' and expressed his commitment to making sure that his alleged killers 'never breathe another breath of air outside of prison.'
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