Blairsville woman found slain in Palm City, FL

By Shawn Jarrard

Blairsville resident Summer Wright is believed to have been the victim of homicide at a home in Martin County, Florida, where she was reportedly staying as a guest at the time of her death.

Martin County Sheriff’s Deputies discovered Wright deceased inside a bedroom of the Palm City residence on Wednesday, June 22. Next of kin here in Union County have been notified.

James Stephenson, 61, of Palm City, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the killing.

“The suspect reportedly told acquaintances that he hurt a female at that location while the homeowners were out of the country,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said. “Deputies who were investigating this third-party information did locate the body of a female inside a home on that large piece of property.”

Stephenson had been “temporarily residing in a separate structure also located on that piece of property” when the killing occurred, said the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which issued a lookout for Stephenson following the discovery of Wright’s body.

A couple of hours after the lookout hit social media, Stephenson was arrested at a Hooters Restaurant in neighboring Palm Beach County with assistance from local law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

According to NBC News affiliate wptv.com of West Palm Beach, a representative from the Sheriff's Office said that Stephenson had reportedly called another woman Tuesday night to confess what he had done, and the woman in turn had called the law.

Martin County Sheriff’s Capt. Ruben Romero, according to the affiliate, said Stephenson told the woman that “he had killed somebody, that he had killed somebody in the past, that he was taking guns out of the property, that he had messed up, that he had done some bad things. He had made some suicidal statements as well.”

When deputies went to the home to conduct a welfare check, “they saw a blood trail through an open window … that led to a rear bedroom where the woman’s body was found,” Romero is reported to have said while noting head and neck trauma.

Per cbs12.com, Capt. Romero said that Stephenson had a “lengthy criminal history.”

“Some of it is violence, some of it’s drug-related, some domestic. It’s all over the board,” Capt. Romero told CBS 12. “He also had a run in with deputies in Martin County, (being) arrested for a resisting charge for a traffic stop where we believe he was a bit intoxicated.”

Stephenson is now facing a charge of second-degree murder in Wright’s death, and he remained in jail on a $1 million bond a press time. He is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.