The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 21-year-old Bahamian student in Florida was identified by authorities as the suspect in a double stabbing near the University of South Florida before he was found dead hours later at a nearby apartment complex.

Hansel Pearson, of Grand Bahama, is suspected of stabbing his roommate and another person during an early morning attack at Halo 46 Apartments in Tampa last Wednesday, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to the apartment complex on North 46th Street around 4.30am after a man called 911 and reported that he and another person had been stabbed.

Both victims were taken to hospital and were listed in stable condition.

Authorities said Pearson and one of the victims were roommates and University of South Florida students. The other victim had no affiliation with the university.

Investigators believe Pearson was responsible for the attack, which happened near the university campus during the early morning hours of June 10.

Later that afternoon, detectives opened a separate death investigation after Pearson was found dead at Union on Fletcher Apartments, about a mile from the stabbing scene.

Authorities have not disclosed the manner or circumstances of Pearson’s death. They have also not released a motive for the stabbing.

A relative mourned Pearson’s death in a Facebook post, describing him as her grandson and saying he had left her with "much pain" in her heart. She wrote that she believed he had been reunited in heaven with his late father, adding that the loss made her feel as though she had "lost two sons."

An aunt in Grand Bahama told The Tribune the family did not want to speak to the media when contacted yesterday.

The Tribune also contacted Bahamas Consul General to Miami Tyeson McKenzie, who said officials were still looking into the matter.