Attempted Murder Suspect Not Yet Formally Charged By State
By CHRIS BUTLER

SEBRING — The trial of a Lake Placid man charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment and battery will commence once various jurisdictional issues are resolved. 

As 10th Circuit Court Judge Peter Estrada said Tuesday that his court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the matter until state attorneys formally charge Alex Rowe, 19, no address given.

Rowe was arrested Christmas Eve after a woman told Sebring Police Rowe had abducted her 25-year-old daughter at gunpoint. The woman said her daughter was forced into Rowe’s car, and it headed south.

Sheriff’s deputies later reported seeing Rowe’s car near Lake Placid and rescuing the woman’s daughter. Deputies reported finding the 25-year-old female crying hysterically, saying “he’s gonna kill me.”

“The victim was physically shaking because she was afraid and could barely speak,” Sebring Police officers said in their report. 
The woman told arriving Sebring Police officers that Rowe had “physically thrown her” into his vehicle, adding she tried to escape but Rowe held her against her will.

She also said two more attempts to get out of his car had failed before he told her he “would kill and bury her.”

The woman said those statements left her in fear for her life.

“They have been living together as a family for some time,” the report quoted the woman telling police.

Rowe was placed under arrest after deputies reported finding a loaded pistol and illegal narcotics under the carpet of his vehicle. According to the deputy’s report, Rowe later admitted his driver’s license was suspended.

Deputies also reported Rowe had admitted forcing the woman into his car, but he denied ever threatening her life.

According to his arrest report, Rowe is a Jamaican citizen.