An evening of drinking and arguing between two friends in a quiet Florida suburb ended in a fatal shooting that left one man dead and the other facing a murder charge. Ricardo J. Escarra, a 47-year-old man known to friends as "Rico," was shot and killed on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in the garage of a home in Englewood, a community in Charlotte County.
Though few details about Ricardo's life have been made public, he was described as a friend of the man who shot him, 68-year-old Frank John Voight. Ricardo and his girlfriend were reportedly frequent visitors to Voight's home, and Ricardo would perform tasks like yard work and driving for Voight’s rental business. In exchange, he would receive payment or the use of Voight's Chevrolet Impala.
The night of the shooting began after Ricardo arrived at Voight’s home on El Campo Avenue upset and crying after an argument with his girlfriend and her family. According to Voight’s account to sheriff’s deputies, Ricardo was visibly distressed, arriving without a shirt, shoes, or socks. Voight stated that Ricardo had been drinking heavily. Voight himself acknowledged that he had been drinking cocktails in his garage that evening. He told investigators he tried to calm his friend down, even offering to set up a cot for him to spend the night. However, he claimed Ricardo became increasingly aggressive and started moving toward him.
The situation escalated inside the garage. Voight told deputies he retrieved his Taurus C2 9mm handgun, which was equipped with a red dot sight and which he often kept on a table in the garage. He said he held the pistol in a "low-ready position" for several minutes, hoping Ricardo would see it and stop advancing. At one point, according to Voight, Ricardo stood five to six feet away, raised his hands with his palms outward, and said, "Shoot me." As Ricardo allegedly moved around a table toward him, Voight claimed he feared for his safety, stating Ricardo was significantly larger and stronger. Voight said he then fired a single, one-handed shot that struck Ricardo in the chest.
The first call to emergency services came not from Voight, but from his sister, Dawn M. Root. At approximately 9:26 p.m., Voight called her. She told investigators she heard heavy breathing on the line before her brother told her, "I just shot Rico." When he admitted he had not called 911, she instructed him to hang up and do so immediately before she called 911 herself at 9:28 p.m. Charlotte County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at the home, located at the intersection of El Campo Boulevard and Forkland Street, to find Ricardo unresponsive on the garage floor. Voight was next to him and appeared intoxicated, with a strong odor of alcohol on his person. Deputies began chest compressions until fire rescue personnel arrived and took over life-saving measures, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Ricardo J. Escarra was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:03 p.m.
Investigators from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office secured the scene. They recovered the handgun from a table in the garage near an interior door. Voight was taken into custody and claimed he acted in self-defense. However, according to the arrest affidavit, he never told Ricardo to leave his property, nor did he attempt to retreat into his house, close the garage door, or call law enforcement himself before the shooting. Despite expressing remorse and devastation over his friend's death, Frank John Voight was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He was booked into the Charlotte County Jail and held without bond under Florida's Anti-Murder Act.
In a news release following the arrest, Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell expressed his condolences. "First and most importantly, my heart goes out to the family and friends of the victim," he stated. "There are no words to ease the pain of losing someone you love, especially in a manner like this." He called the situation "sad," adding that "taking it to this level is unnecessary and ripples far beyond the parties involved. A life is lost and many others are changed forever. This man can think about his actions and those consequences as he now sits in a cell at the jail."
The case against Frank Voight is proceeding through the court system. After a first appearance, his next hearing was scheduled for November 30, 2026, at the Charlotte County Justice Center. As of late October 2026, the investigation was ongoing as authorities scrutinized the self-defense claim in the tragic death of Ricardo Escarra.
