Police on Monday arrested a construction worker in connection with a pair of shootings that left three men dead in a matter of minutes.
Calvin Smith, 28, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Hodges, 54, of Fort Lauderdale, and charges are pending against him in the slayings of Franklin Haynes, 28, and Bryant K. Jones, 25, said Fort Lauderdale police spokesman Detective Katherine Collins.
An anonymous tipster phoned police and led them to a residence on the 3300 block of Northwest 16th Avenue in Lauderhill, police said. They entered the home and arrested Smith without incident, police said. Police didn’t say whether he was armed.
Police said they have not established a motive for the Sunday shootings, but based on witness accounts, Smith and the victims were all friends.
The first of the two shootings in the Lauderdale Manors neighborhood occurred at 4:41 p.m. Sunday on the 1100 block of Northwest 14th Court, police said. Smith, driving a silver vehicle, pulled up and shot Haynes and Jones, who were found inside a black PT Cruiser on the side of the road, police said. Smith, Haynes and Jones were friends, according to Larry Mosley, Haynes’ uncle.
“When you saw one, you saw the other,” Mosley said.
About 10 minutes later, Smith drove to the 1600 block of Northwest 15th Place, where Hodges lived. There he was seen briefly speaking with Hodges before shooting him, police said.
According to the arrest affidavit, an unidentified witness saw Smith talking with Hodges, heard gunshots, saw Hodges lying on the ground and saw the man later identified as Smith drive from the scene. Police found Hodges in front of his pickup truck, dying from several gunshot wounds.
Smith was Hodges’ stepson, said Charley Hodges, his brother. Johnny Hodges employed Smith as a concrete worker, Mosley said.
The witness who saw Smith and Hodges together and then saw Smith drive off said she knew Smith by his street name, “Man.” A witness — it was unclear from the affidavit whether it was the same person or someone else — positively identified Smith from photographs as the person seen at Hodges’ home at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Smith, whose last known residence was 1340 NW 19th Ave, has multiple arrests dating back to 1996, including charges of carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing, driving with a suspended license, cocaine and marijuana possession and resisting an officer without violence, according to state records.
Smith, Haynes and Jones all had past run-ins with police, including drug-related charges, Collins said. She said police were investigating whether drugs played a role in Smith’s shooting of Jones and Haynes.
Now that Smith has been arrested and charged with shooting Hodges, police said, they are hoping more people who saw the first shooting will come forward and talk to them.
Haynes’ friend Corey Brown, 31, said Haynes was an aspiring rap artist whose rap name was “Nutso.”
Haynes’ wife, Camille Haynes, 20, of Deerfield Beach, said the couple shared a Fort Lauderdale apartment with Smith in October and November, then moved out. She did not say why.
Camille Haynes said her husband and Smith had recently been arguing but she didn’t know why. Smith “had said Frankie was trying to hurt him. I don’t know why he would feel like that,” she said.
Joann Watson, Hodges’ fiancee who lived with him and his five stepchildren, said Smith’s sister dropped off her children at Hodges’ home after the first shooting. The sister, whom Watson refused to identify, flagged down Smith as he drove toward Hodges’ home. Watson would not say why the sister dropped off her children there.
According to Watson, Smith phoned his sister and told her, “I just did something crazy. There’s trouble and something’s going to happen.” Watson said Smith wanted to switch vehicles with his sister, but she refused to help him.
Watson mourned Hodges’ death.
“He was the greatest love of my life and will be in my mind every moment for the rest of my life,” she said.
Juan Ortega can be reached at or 954-572-2004.
