First-time father gunned down in Orange County

Deputies investigating after 26-year-old was found dead in front yard

Orange County deputies are investigating a homicide on Tuesday after they say a neighbor woke up to find a body lying face down in the front yard. 

Deputies say that neighbor called 911 around 7:30 a.m. and by the time they got to the 4600 block of Gore Avenue they knew they had a homicide on their hands. They identified the victim as 26-year-old Stacey Bo Roberts.

"Mr. Roberts had been shot, a gunshot wound, and the homicide investigators have been called in, that's where we stand," said Orange County Sheriff's spokesperson Jane Watrel.

Watrel told News 6 that deputies spoke to those who live in the neighborhood who told them they heard gunshots around 2 to 3 a.m. Thursday.

And while deputies investigated, Roberts' family watched. A group of about 30, many of them sobbing, trying to understand.

"I'm just still trying to get myself together," said cousin Ebony Loyd. "He just had a baby and he wasn't like really coming out like doing nothing. He was staying at home. He didn't mess with nobody and that's probably why they are trying to like put him in a spot like, 'oh he's quiet, probably no one knows him really,' so he was probably targeted that way. It's just bad."

Call Crimeline at 800-423-8477 if you have any information on the investigation.