FORT PIERCE — A 20-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on a homicide charge following the death of a man found in May with a gunshot wound to the head, according to an affidavit released Thursday.

Arkevius Rasharad Malone, of the 2500 block of Wilkins Avenue in Fort Pierce, was arrested in connection with the death of Joseph Brown after a Fort Pierce police investigation. Police spokesman Ed Cunningham said Brown was 57.

Cunningham said police didn’t release information about the death at the time because “detectives were investigating it and needed the information to be kept confidential in efforts to find the offender.”

Brown was found dead May 26 in his apartment in the 4500 block of Whispering Pines Lane. Brown’s family went to pick him up, but no one answered the door.

The family asked that the front office check on Brown’s residence, and workers found him in a pool of blood next to his bed.

A single .380 caliber cartridge casing was on the bed, but no firearm was recovered.

Brown’s phone records, obtained by his son, showed the last 13 text messages to and from Brown’s phone, all May 24, were from the same number.

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The victim in a burglary case at Malone’s listed address said on June 30 her home was burglarized and her boyfriend’s necklace was among the items taken.

She identified her boyfriend as Arkevius Malone. She gave his phone number as the same one police said was involved in the texts with Brown.

Cunningham said Malone was arrested June 20 by St. Lucie County Sheriff’s investigators on an unrelated case and has been in jail since then.

On July 20, investigators went to talk to Malone in jail, and he denied knowing Brown or contacting him.

The next day, an investigator intercepted a phone call Malone made to his girlfriend “in which they spoke about something bad Mr. Malone had done,” an affidavit said.

“You know what I’m talking about, what happened a long time ago,” Malone is quoted as saying.

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Malone referred to speaking with investigators and said, “What happened a long time ago, that came up. They tried to get to me, but I didn’t break.”

Malone’s girlfriend told police Malone met a man on Facebook and arranged to meet him to borrow about $40.

She remembered driving Malone to an apartment complex to get the money about a month before July 21. She said she dropped Malone off about 6 p.m., and said he returned to their home on Wilkins Avenue about 9 or 10 p.m.

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She said she asked Malone if he’d gotten the money and he said he had.

“She stated Mr. Malone had his head down and stated he had done something bad,” an affidavit said.

She told police Malone carries guns and has photos of himself on Facebook handling guns.

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