On the morning of March 24, 2026, Stacie Ellis Mason, a 49-year-old woman, was shot and killed in a parking lot near the Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach, Florida. The incident, which also resulted in the death of her colleague, 56-year-old Danny Ooley, unfolded around 7 a.m. in what authorities would later describe as a targeted "crime of passion."
Both Mason and Ooley were longtime employees of Indian River County.
Investigators determined that Mason and Ooley had arrived at the library parking lot in separate vehicles. Mason then exited her SUV and joined Ooley in the passenger seat of his Ford Ranger pickup truck. Shortly thereafter, a suspect approached the vehicle and opened fire with a rifle-style weapon. Ooley was shot first, followed by Mason. According to police reports, when Mason fell out of the truck, the gunman shot her again. The weapon was left at the scene.
The prime suspect in the double homicide was quickly identified as Stacie's husband, Jesse Scott Ellis, a 64-year-old local electrician. Police believe the motive was tied to an affair between Mason and Ooley. At the time of the shooting, Mason and Ellis, who had been married for 13 years, were reportedly in the process of separating and discussing divorce. Surveillance footage from the library captured the attack, showing the suspect approaching the truck and firing multiple rounds.
Following the shooting, Jesse Ellis fled in his pickup truck, which was later found abandoned at South Beach Park. A witness reported seeing a man matching his description entering the Atlantic Ocean fully clothed shortly after the incident. Fire rescue crews on a boat later made contact with a man, believed to be Ellis, about 900 yards from shore. Unaware of his connection to the homicides, they let him go after he provided a false name and declined assistance. An active warrant was subsequently issued for Ellis's arrest on two counts of first-degree murder. A large-scale manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies was launched, searching the coastline by land, air, and sea. As of early April 2026, Ellis remained at large, with authorities uncertain whether he had drowned or managed to escape the area.
