A woman who rushed into the ocean to save a struggling swimmer later learned he was accused of killing his wife and her suspected lover earlier that morning.
Belinda had been walking along Riomar Beach on March 24 when she heard a man shouting for help from the water and ran into the surf to pull him back toward shore.
“So, he got on his back, and he said, ‘I’m exhausted, I’m tired,’ and I said, ‘Do it! Get on your back and let the waves carry you, you can do it, come on,’” she recalled.
Instead of focusing on getting out, the man told her he was “going to take a long vacation.”
Police later identified the man as 64-year-old Jesse Scott Ellis, who had already been named a suspect in a deadly shooting earlier that morning.
Investigators say Ellis went to the Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach around 7 a.m., where his wife, Stacie Ellis Mason, and her colleague Danny Ooley had just arrived. Authorities believe the two were involved in a relationship.
Security footage showed Mason leaving her car and getting into Ooley’s vehicle. Minutes later, Ellis pulled into the lot carrying an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire into the car, killing both of them.
After the shooting, Ellis drove away. At some point afterward, a man matching his description appeared at a nearby beach and walked into the ocean while still fully clothed.
Responders were initially called to the scene, but left after the man insisted he did not need help and provided a false name.
Not long after, Belinda encountered him in the water and helped guide him back toward land.
Video later released by police shows her crouching beside Ellis after he emerged from the ocean.
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As the investigation unfolded, officers tracked Ellis’ vehicle to South Beach Park, where they searched the truck and located wet clothing, an empty holster, and a .380-caliber magazine.
They also recovered multiple written documents outlining his emotional state in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Some of the writings stretched back to early March and described what investigators characterized as intense personal distress, including references to not being able to eat, sleep, or function normally.
Authorities believe the documents pointed toward suicidal intent, though it remains unclear whether Ellis ultimately died in the ocean or is still on the run.
As of Monday evening, he had not been located, and police warned residents to expect an increased law enforcement presence as the search continues.
Even after learning who the man was, Belinda said she does not regret stepping in.
“I could not leave him in the water no matter what,” she said. “Everybody is going through something.”
She added that she would have contacted emergency services immediately had she known he was wanted in connection with a double homicide.
Ellis now faces two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, a capital charge that could carry the death penalty if he is captured alive and convicted.
In a separate case out of Kentucky, police say a domestic dispute turned deadly when a man allegedly shot his wife inside their home.
Patrick Brents, 57, is accused of killing Carolyn Ross on March 14 in Louisville following an argument about cleaning before a planned trip.
According to court records, the disagreement escalated when Brents went into a bedroom, retrieved a firearm, and returned to confront his wife. A witness inside the home said Ross pleaded with him not to shoot.
Brents allegedly responded, “What are you going to do about it?” before the weapon discharged, striking her in the abdomen.
The couple’s son, who was also present, ran outside and urged someone to call 911 after asking his father why he had fired the shot.
When officers arrived at the home on Southwestern Parkway, they found Brents still there. Ross was transported to a hospital but later died from her injuries.
Brents told investigators he had grabbed the gun intending to leave and that it went off, but he was charged with first-degree assault domestic violence. He remains in custody on a $250,000 bond.
In Texas, a man will spend decades in prison after admitting to a violent assault that left his girlfriend dead.
Kaleb Mickens, 34, received a 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated assault tied to the death of Sheila Cuevas. Prosecutors said he initially tried to blame the injuries on his dog.
Mickens had called 911 claiming the animal attacked Cuevas and that she had stopped breathing. Authorities later determined the injuries were far too severe to have been caused by a dog.
In court, prosecutors described extensive trauma across the victim’s body, including multiple broken ribs and severe facial injuries.
Investigators said complications with determining the exact cause of death prevented a murder charge, but Mickens was still convicted on multiple violent offenses tied to different victims.
During sentencing, several women delivered statements describing abuse, manipulation, and violence they said they experienced at his hands.
Mickens will also serve additional sentences of 20 and 15 years tied to separate assault convictions involving other women.
