SHARPES, Fla. – After three years, there’s finally an update to what happened to a father the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office says was murdered.
In 2023, just a few months before Frank Orwig, 58, died, your Sharpes Community Correspondent James Sparvero met him.
In February of that year, Orwig’s 4-year-old son Frankie wandered away from home and was missing for a couple of hours, prompting a huge search until the little boy was found, safely.
“I ran up to him, and I wouldn’t even let him go,” Orwig told Sparvero. “I was crying so bad.”
[WATCH: Father, son reunited after boy disappeared for hours in Brevard County (from 2023)]
What looked like a happy ending for the family turned tragic that summer when a news release from the sheriff’s office said Frank, Sr. was shot and killed.
This week, Tavery Houston, 19, was arrested in connection with Orwig’s death.
The sheriff’s office told Sparvero it took so long because months went by before they knew who they were looking for, and Houston moved away from Brevard County for a while.
He wasn’t interviewed until just days ago.
Deputies said Houston shot Orwig in a fight about money.
Orwig’s sister, Kim Jethro, in North Carolina, told Sparvero specifically that the argument was over late rent.
“To break into somebody’s house and be able to pull a gun and shoot them four or five times, it just makes no sense to me,” Jethro said.
She told Sparvero that Orwig scrapped car parts on his property, and he had tenants who lived out of campers.
“Always come by my trailer and ask me if I needed something,” Joey Sanchez said about Orwig’s generosity.
Sanchez said Orwig was more than a landlord. He was a friend.
Sparvero asked what he missed about Orwig the most.
“His smile,” Sanchez said. “I miss him so much, you know.”
Jethro said she hopes Houston gets the death penalty.
He faces a first-degree murder charge and he’s pleading not guilty.
“Look what he did to my brother,” she said. “My brother was a dad. He just took him from all of us.”
Houston remains in the Brevard County jail without a bond.
We’ll keep you updated about his prosecution.