On the night of October 5, Jandei Cherry, a 22-year-old father and worker at Quarterdeck in Dania Beach, went skinny-dipping late after work.
At the time, he apparently got into a verbal altercation with a coworker.
In retaliation, the coworker took Cherry's clothes, cell phone, wallet, and skateboard and ran off.
Cherry decided he had no choice but to run home naked. During his ten-mile trek home to Pembroke Pines on Hollywood Boulevard, he was confronted by a passing motorist, who then shot him in the stomach. Cherry died in a local hospital soon after.
The shooter is yet to face charges.
Those are the facts of what we know of a bizarre mystery that has Cherry's mother, friends, and coworkers reeling.
According to a search warrant, the shooter, 29-year-old Duke Laguerre, says he spotted Cherry running naked. He turned his car around, stopped, and asked Cherry if he was OK.
Cherry, Laguerre claims, grabbed the car window. Laguerre tried to raise the window back up, but Cherry wouldn't let it go back up. Cherry also grabbed Laguerre's shoulder. Laguerre grabbed a Glock 9 mm from the console and shot Cherry once in the stomach before driving off. Laguerre says he then called 911.
A police officer driving by spotted Cherry on the ground. He says Cherry was speaking.
Cherry was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Cherry has been described by coworkers as jovial, funny, and smart. They were genuinely shocked when they heard the news that he had been shot while running naked. The Quarterdeck general manager who hired him said he was impressed by Cherry's outgoing nature, that he as good kid and a good worker.
Cherry's mother, meanwhile, is trying to piece together what exactly happened and why.
So far, no one in the case has been charged with anything. Not Laguerre, not the coworker who took Cherry's clothes. When the items were returned to Cherry's mother, the wallet had more than $70 in cash in it. And the skateboard that belonged to Cherry was still intact.
For now, police say they're still investigating. They're awaiting a toxicology report to see if Cherry was on anything that night.
The woman traveling with Laguerre that night corroborated the story the shooter gave police. She also claims to have shot some of the incident with her cell phone.
A friend of Cherry's told his mother that he saw the altercation between her son and the coworker. The two began arguing, and Cherry punched the other man in the face. Later, while Cherry was in the water, the coworker took Cherry's things and ran off.
Meanwhile, Cherry leaves behind a grieving mother and a 3-year-old daughter.
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