Hollywood Man Accused Of Murdering Friend, Stuffing Body In Duffel Bag

A man in Hollywood, Florida, was arrested for allegedly murdering his friend, according to Miami Herald. On Monday night, Jesse Lee Mitchell called his mother, Susan Mitchell, and said he needed to see her in person.

Susan told police that her 31-year-old son seemed upset over the phone and that his voice was cracking.

When she arrived at his location around 10 p.m. on North Ocean Drive and Taft Street to pick him up, police say “he immediately gave her a tight hug and apologized for his behavior” before telling her that he may have killed his friend.

An arrest report indicated that he mentioned a baseball bat during their conversation.

Susan called 911 and advised her son to confess. When Jesse got on the phone, he was reportedly emotional as he told a dispatcher that he “hurt his friend and he is dead.” He went on to say that he blacked out during the attack, and the body was under the bed at his barrier island apartment that he shared with his girlfriend and a roommate.

When Hollywood police officers arrived at his home in the 300 block of Oregon Street, Jesse willingly laid on the ground outside of his apartment and placed his hands behind his back, waiting to be arrested.

It was reported that Jesse signed a consent form that allowed officers to search his home.

Jesse was arrested without incident after officers found a body stuffed inside a large, black duffel bag in his home, underneath the suspect’s bed. Police say a bloody shopping bag was covering the victim’s head.

The identity of the victim has not been released. Officers are waiting to notify the next of kin.

Jesse, who has a previous public intoxication and trespassing charge, was booked into the Broward County jail on first-degree murder charges. He is being held without a bond.

Neighbors were stunned after learning about the murder, saying they heard shouting from the apartment but they never expected this to happen. An area resident, Patricia Bishop, stated that “murders don’t happen often at the south end of the beach. It does not happen in this area.”

The victim’s cause of death and the circumstances leading up to the alleged murder is unknown at this time, but Hollywood police are conducting an investigation.