A shooting Friday in North Fort Myers that left two dead was the result of a domestic dispute, says a neighbor and friend.
Lee County deputies responded to gunshots at a residence in SunCoast Estates at about 4:30 p.m. and found 47-year-old Toni Morgan suffering life-threatening wounds, according to Sgt. David Velez. Morgan later died of her injuries. Deputies spent hours searching for her shooter, whom the sheriff’s office identified as 39-year-old Ryan Linder. He was later found dead near the scene.
Dale Beynon, Morgan’s neighbor and close friend, said Morgan and Linder had been dating off and on for 3½ years. The two were constantly fighting and Linder could become abusive when he started drinking and using drugs, she said.
“I kept trying to warn her that he was dangerous,” Beynon said. “Maybe he wasn’t dangerous, but the the two of them together were like fire and gasoline. They knew how to push each other’s buttons.”
The tension between the couple came to a head Friday when Morgan tried to break off the relationship, Beynon said. Morgan said she was going to pack up Linder’s clothes and put them outside her trailer, but he went inside after her.
“She came running out not even two minutes later screaming, ‘He has a gun,’” Beynon said.
From her residence about 75 feet from Morgan’s trailer, Beynon called 911 as she watched the scene unfold. Linder shot Morgan and she went down, then he shot her three more times in the back, she said.
“I kept yelling, ‘Please Ryan, stop,’” Beynon said.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has not released details of Morgan’s shooting, or details of Linder’s death, Velez said.
Linder was charged with battery 10 times in Lee, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office website. Several of the charges were domestic-violence related and in 2010 he was arrested on a felony charge of domestic battery by strangulation. Linder also was arrested for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of marijuana and cocaine. He was released from his most recent prison term last September after spending about a month in jail.
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