An arrest affidavit says detectives linked the case to surveillance video, blood evidence, witness statements and containers left in an undeveloped area known as the Compound.
PALM BAY, Fla. — A 19-year-old Indialantic man has been charged with second-degree murder after investigators said he killed Colie Lee Daniel, dismembered the body and left the remains in suitcases in Palm Bay’s remote Compound area last month.
The case moved quickly from a missing-person report to a homicide prosecution after detectives released an affidavit laying out what they say happened inside a house on Watson Drive and during a series of trips to dump evidence. Lucas Sander Jones is being held without bond after a judge found probable cause on the upgraded murder charge. The allegations have drawn attention across Brevard County because of the detailed court filing, the condition of the remains and the still-open questions about motive, planning and whether all of Daniel’s remains have been recovered.
According to the arrest affidavit, Daniel, 28, arrived at Jones’ home at about 5:32 p.m. on March 20 in a white Hyundai Elantra. Neighborhood surveillance cameras captured him getting out of the car. Later that night, at about 9:45 p.m., Daniel’s parents went to the house looking for him. The affidavit says Jones answered the door, told them Daniel was inside and then refused to let them or Indialantic police officers enter to check on him. No one made contact with Daniel that night. Jones’ girlfriend, Mishai Burrows, arrived while police and Daniel’s parents were still outside. Detectives say Jones told her to go inside and “not say anything.” After officers left, Burrows later told investigators, Jones confessed. “I killed somebody and cut him up,” she said he told her, according to the affidavit.
Burrows told detectives she saw blood in tile grout, on rugs, baseboards and a wall outside Jones’ bedroom, the affidavit says. She also described one tile outside the bedroom as cracked and dented in the shape of a head. Investigators say Jones told her he killed Daniel with a baseball bat, then cut up the body with a cleaver, a saw and a knife before placing remains into two suitcases and two large storage totes. The next morning, officers returned for a welfare check and were allowed inside, but they did not find Daniel. Detectives say Jones soon left with Burrows in her red Honda after loading containers into the car. Camera data later tracked the route to and from the Compound, an undeveloped area in Palm Bay. On March 28, officers responding to a report of vultures circling an abandoned suitcase near Bombardier Boulevard found partial dismembered remains and an Amazon package addressed to Jones, according to court records and local police reporting.
The affidavit lays out what investigators believe was a deliberate cleanup. Detectives say Jones bought paint at Lowe’s on March 21 after making a trip to nearby train tracks and later used the paint to cover walls and baseboards. They say he used a steam cleaner on bloodstained tile, hid towels in trash cans and poured drain cleaner down household plumbing. Search warrant returns described red droplets and blood spatter inside the home, with presumptive tests positive for large amounts of human blood in the hallway, living room, garage and kitchen, the affidavit says. Burrows also told detectives Jones kept Daniel’s blood on microscope slides. A drill bit found in a bag with some of the remains matched an injury seen by investigators, according to the filing. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide but listed the cause of death as unspecified, while noting multiple blunt-force injuries to the head and extremities and evidence of defensive wounds. Authorities have not publicly said whether they believe every part of Daniel’s body has been recovered.
The case has also raised questions about why Daniel was targeted. Court records say Jones had a printed list of nearby registered sex offenders and told Burrows after the killing that he wanted to kill Daniel because he was a sex offender living in the neighborhood. State registry records identify Daniel as a registered sexual offender with a 2018 conviction in Brevard County for lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim ages 12 to 15. Investigators have not publicly described how Jones and Daniel first met, though records place them living close to one another in Indialantic. Local police have said they are still reviewing evidence and working to clarify motive. That leaves major unknowns, including whether prosecutors believe Jones planned the killing well in advance or selected Daniel more recently. The court affidavit argues there was planning before, during and after the killing, pointing to tools, weapons, transportation, efforts to clean the scene and instructions Burrows said Jones gave her about what to tell investigators and how to act as if everything was normal.
The legal case has already changed shape several times. Jones was first arrested after the remains were found and booked on charges that included tampering with evidence, abuse of a dead human body and transporting human remains in an unauthorized container. He posted bond and was released, according to local reports and jail records cited by news outlets. After additional interviews, forensic work and coordination with the State Attorney’s Office and the medical examiner, Palm Bay detectives sought a new warrant. Jones was arrested again on April 1 on a second-degree murder charge. In a first appearance before a judge, he was ordered held without bond. Law enforcement officials have said the investigation crossed agency lines, with Palm Bay police, Indialantic police and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office all involved at different stages. Jones is scheduled to be arraigned April 21. Court records available so far do not show a detailed public response from defense counsel to the allegations in the murder affidavit.
The setting has added another layer to the case. The Compound, a large tract of scrub and unfinished roads on Palm Bay’s edge, has long been known locally as an isolated place where abandoned vehicles, dumping and other crimes sometimes turn up. Councilman Kenny Johnson told local television he was not surprised remains were found there and said the case had renewed debate about whether the city should finally move forward with a long-discussed development plan for the area. Palm Bay Deputy Chief Spears said in a statement that the investigation showed how agencies in the county work together when a case crosses city lines. “We will always work as a team,” Spears said, “to ensure that proper and thorough investigations are completed.” For Daniel’s family, the wider policy debate sits beside a simpler fact. He left home on March 20 telling his parents he would be back for dinner, according to the affidavit, and detectives now say he never made it home because the visit ended inside a house that had become a crime scene.
As of Sunday, Jones remained in the Brevard County jail without bond, prosecutors were preparing for an April 21 arraignment, and detectives had still not publicly answered two key questions: exactly how Jones and Daniel became connected, and whether the full recovery of Daniel’s remains is complete.
Author note: Last updated April 5, 2026.