The fatal shooting of Lanessa Rodriguez prompted murder and evidence-tampering charges in St. Lucie County.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A worried co-worker’s trip to a South U.S. 1 gold shop led police to the body of a store manager and a homicide case now involving two Vero Beach men.
The April 28 killing of Lanessa Rodriguez, 35, began for police as a welfare concern inside Cash Out Gold and Silver. Within hours, detectives were reviewing surveillance video, interviewing a driver who said she had taken the accused shooter to the shop and searching roadside areas for a discarded weapon. Landen Julian Ballard, 20, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge, and Tylen Jerome Ryan, 22, was later charged with tampering with evidence.
The first public sign that something was wrong came shortly after 7 p.m., when officers were sent to the business at 4603 South U.S. Highway 1. Police said an employee from another location had been calling Rodriguez and became concerned when she did not answer. The employee went to the Fort Pierce shop and found Rodriguez on the floor with blood around her. Officers arrived and found spent casings and bullet damage in the business. Rodriguez was declared dead at the scene. The store, a small gold and silver shop along a busy commercial corridor, then became the center of an investigation that stretched from Fort Pierce to Vero Beach.
Investigators said the video inside the store gave them a clear sequence of the shooting. Ballard and another man entered, and Ballard sat across from Rodriguez. Police said the exchange looked casual, as though the two had some familiarity or reason to talk. While speaking with her, Ballard handled his phone and moved his leg, according to court records. Police said he then pulled out a handgun, kept it hidden from Rodriguez’s sight and continued the conversation. Moments later, investigators said, he fired one shot at her shoulder and then fired more rounds after she stood. Police said he continued until the magazine was empty.
The witness who said she drove Ballard told police the trip to the shop started with a claim that he wanted to sell a gold pendant. She said Ballard had spoken with a woman by phone before the visit and that the woman had offered him work. The witness remained in the vehicle as Ballard and another man went inside, according to police. When the two returned, she said, Ballard described the shooting. Police said the witness told them Ballard was bragging during the ride away and asked, “Is it bad that I have no remorse?” That alleged remark became one of the most striking details in the arrest documents.
The witness also gave investigators a route. She said Ballard threw a gun and magazine from the passenger side window as the group drove away. Police later recovered a 9mm handgun near Indrio Road and I-95. She also told investigators the group returned toward the shop because Ballard wanted to rob it, but they turned back after seeing police activity. The witness then dropped off Ballard and the other man and went to authorities. During a later monitored call, police said Ballard again spoke about having no remorse and said he planned to leave for New York. Police arrested him at a parent’s house before any reported departure.
Ballard’s charges include first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with physical evidence and violation of probation. Police said the U.S. Marshals Service helped take him into custody. The probation count comes from a separate 2025 case, according to local reports, and is not the central allegation in the homicide case. The murder charge accuses Ballard of intentionally killing Rodriguez after entering the business. The evidence charge relates to the discarded firearm and magazine, police said. Ballard was held without bond in the St. Lucie County Jail after his arrest. Court records reviewed in local reporting did not list an available next court date.
The second arrest added another layer to the case. Police had first said they were looking for the other man who was inside the shop, while also saying he was not yet suspected of wrongdoing at that early stage. Days later, they said Ryan had been arrested on a tampering with evidence charge. Authorities have not publicly accused Ryan of shooting Rodriguez. The charge means prosecutors and detectives are examining conduct after the killing, including what happened to evidence and who helped move, hide or discard it. The broader investigation remained active as police continued to review video and witness statements.
Rodriguez’s death also brought grief beyond the criminal case. Friends identified her as Lanessa Rodriguez, a transgender woman with ties to the local drag scene and LGBTQ community. They described her as loving, funny and hardworking. Police records used a legal name that friends said did not reflect her public identity. Rodriguez worked as a manager at the shop and, according to people who knew her, had been building business plans in the area. Her friends said the killing cut short a life rooted in work, performance, family and close community ties. Their memories stood apart from the courtroom details, giving the case a human weight beyond the charges.
The investigation has left several points unresolved. Police have not publicly released a motive. They have not said whether the offer of work, the attempted sale of jewelry or any earlier contact explains why Ballard allegedly opened fire. They have also not said that Rodriguez’s gender identity was a factor. What police have laid out is narrower: a meeting at the shop, a shooting captured on video, a driver’s account, a recovered gun and two arrests. Prosecutors will now have to present those pieces in court while defense attorneys test the evidence and the witness accounts.
The Fort Pierce Police Department has continued treating the case as open while court proceedings in St. Lucie County move forward. As of May 23, Ballard remained charged with murder in Rodriguez’s death, and Ryan faced an evidence-tampering charge connected to the same investigation.
Author note: Last updated May 23, 2026.