Alex Johnson, 25, a male of White ethnicity from Fort Myers, Florida, was shot and killed on June 8, 2025. Police said the shooting happened along Palm Beach Boulevard near the Oasis/Harbor Grand area and described it as a random attack. Memorial pages later recorded the date and place of his death, underscoring the suddenness with which the day turned from routine to irrevocable.
According to investigators, the gunfire struck Alex Johnson, 25, in the neck and head, and he died at the scene before family plans for a day on the water could begin. The location—a boat ramp corridor where early-morning activity is common—became the backdrop of a homicide that rattled neighbors and passersby who heard the shots and saw the aftermath near the riverfront towers.
Fort Myers Police arrested 41-year-old Yanko Romero in the hours and days that followed, identifying him as the suspect in the killing of Alex Johnson, 25, and characterizing the shooting as unprovoked. A grand jury later returned serious charges in connection with the case, and court records reporting cited multiple felony counts tied to the June 8 slaying near Palm Beach Boulevard and Oasis Grand Boulevard.
While jailed in Lee County after his arrest, Romero brutally beat a fellow inmate, prompting additional charges and intensifying scrutiny of his confinement. The victim of the jailhouse assault required reconstructive surgery, and prosecutors moved forward on the new counts while the homicide case involving Alex Johnson, 25, remained pending.
A judge later found Romero incompetent to stand trial and ordered him committed to a state hospital for treatment, with the court noting concerns about his ability to care for himself and the danger he posed. Accounts in case documents and interviews referenced prior mental-health diagnoses. Weeks afterward, officials confirmed Romero died in custody at a forensic treatment center, leaving the criminal case in the death of Alex Johnson, 25, without a conventional trial resolution.
The loss of Alex Johnson, 25, drew a swift response from family and friends, who created an online fundraiser in the days immediately following the shooting and gathered remembrances on digital memorials dedicated to victims of gun violence from Fort Myers and beyond.
