Convicted felon kills homeless man in Florida Keys public park

MARATHON, Florida. – A 37-year-old convicted felon was at the Monroe County Jail's Key West facility Sunday, accused of murdering a 54-year-old man, records show.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Lee Charles Quinn Saturday at the corner of Overseas Highway and 39th Street in Marathon.

The murder took place across the street at Marathon Community Park, a popular area with soccer fields, tennis courts and basketball courts.

Deputies reported that Quinn beat William Claude Prichett before a doctor at nearby Fishers Community Hospital pronounced him dead.

Deputies reported Prichett and Quinn were homeless. Both had criminal records.

Quinn, born in Polk County, has a lengthy criminal record in South Florida dating back to an arrest when he was 18 in Davie.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Quinn, also known as Christopher and Charles, has five convictions.

There were four convictions in 2008 in Broward County for burglary, grand larceny and possession of a controlled substance in 2005. He was in jail for about seven months.

The fifth conviction was for the 2009 theft of a motor vehicle in Monroe County. He was found guilty and sentenced to one year and four months in prison. Corrections released him on January 18, 2012.

Late last year, MCSO deputies arrested Quinn again in Marathon after he allegedly threatened to kill them and grabbed a deputy's gun. Prosecutors charged him with battery on a police officer, attempting to deprive a police officer of means of protection, resisting a police officer and threatening law enforcement.

Court records show a Monroe County judge sentenced him to 150 days in jail and gave him 111 days in jail. As of Sunday, records show Quinn was facing a second-degree murder charge.

Princhett, the murder victim, has a criminal record that includes arrests for drunken driving in South Florida and Texas, where he was from. In 2015, during a drunken driving arrest, Princhett told deputies he was visiting friends in Marathon.

Jail records show a judge set Quinn's bail at $750,000 and his arraignment hearing was set for 9 a.m. July 2.

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