Police say a 19-year-old cut up a man’s body, moved the remains in suitcases and tried to clean the scene before officers found evidence.
PALM BAY, Fla. — A 19-year-old Brevard County man is accused of killing Colie Lee Daniel, cutting up his body and leaving the remains in suitcases in a remote Palm Bay area after a series of trips that investigators say began at an Indialantic home in March.
Palm Bay police say the case moved from a suspicious remains investigation to a second-degree murder charge after detectives collected surveillance footage, blood evidence, witness statements and autopsy findings. The immediate stakes are now in court, where Lucas Sander Jones faces a murder count in a case that has drawn sharp attention because of the condition of the body, the location where the remains were found and the witness account that Jones later spoke openly about the killing.
According to the arrest affidavit, Daniel arrived at 420 Watson Drive in Indialantic on March 20 at about 5:32 p.m. in a white Hyundai Elantra. Detectives wrote that neighborhood surveillance showed him arriving and getting out of the car. Later that night, around 9:45 p.m., Daniel’s parents went to the home to check on him. The affidavit says Jones answered the door and told them Daniel was inside, but he did not let them or officers enter to check on Daniel’s welfare. Investigators said a red Honda Accord Hybrid driven by Jones’ girlfriend, Mishai Burrows, arrived during that period. Burrows later told detectives Jones instructed her to go inside and not say anything. Police said the home was already being cleaned and that Jones appeared to have visible injuries, including marks on his arms, chest and face.
The affidavit says the next movements became central to the investigation. Palm Bay police wrote that license plate readers and surveillance systems traced the red Honda to and from the area known as “The Compound,” a large undeveloped stretch in Palm Bay, and also to nearby train tracks. Detectives said Jones loaded at least two gray storage totes and at least one black suitcase into the Honda before leaving. On March 22, Daniel’s parents reported him missing. Six days later, on March 28 at about 10:50 a.m., Palm Bay officers were sent to 5574 Babcock Street after a report of an abandoned suitcase with vultures circling it. Officers found a black suitcase in tall grass, then another nearby. Inside, police said, they found partial dismembered human remains. Investigators also found an Amazon package addressed to Jones at the Watson Drive address, linking the dump site to the home they later searched.
When detectives searched the Indialantic residence on March 28, they reported finding blood droplets and spatter inside the house, including in the hallway, living room, garage and kitchen. Presumptive tests were positive for what the affidavit described as large amounts of human blood. Burrows later returned to police and changed an earlier account, giving what detectives described as a fuller timeline. She said Jones told her, “I killed somebody and cut him up,” then identified the victim to her as Colie Lee. She told detectives he said he used a baseball bat and a cleaver and placed the remains into two suitcases and two large storage totes. Burrows also told investigators she saw black spray paint in the hallway, blood on floor grout and red stains on Jones’ jeans. Some details remain unresolved. The affidavit says Daniel’s full body had not been recovered, and the exact cause of death was still listed as unspecified even after the medical examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide.
The records add more context about what detectives believe happened after the killing. Investigators wrote that Jones went to Lowe’s to buy paint and other materials after the homicide and used a steam cleaner inside the home. The affidavit says he hid blood-soaked towels in a trash can and poured drain cleaner down drains in an effort to remove biological evidence. Detectives also wrote that a drill bit was found in a bag with some remains and that an injury on the body was consistent with a drill hole similar in size to that bit. The medical examiner, according to the affidavit, found extensive postmortem injuries, including mutilation and dismemberment, along with blunt-force injuries to the head and signs of defensive wounds on the upper extremities. Burrows told investigators Jones had a printed list of nearby registered sex offenders and later said he killed Daniel because Daniel was a sex offender. Daniel appears in Florida’s sex offender registry.
The legal case now turns on the evidence described in the affidavit and the next court dates. Palm Bay police first pursued charges tied to evidence tampering, abuse of a dead human body and improper disposal of human remains after the suitcases were found. The later arrest affidavit sought a warrant for murder under Florida Statute 782.04(2), the state’s second-degree murder law. The affidavit was sworn on March 31 and filed April 1 in Brevard County circuit court. Fox 35 reported Friday that Jones had been charged in Daniel’s killing. Court records cited in the affidavit identify Jones as 19 and list the Watson Drive address as his last known residence. The case is expected to move through the normal pretrial process in Brevard County unless prosecutors add counts or revise the charge as the investigation continues.
The scene described by investigators was grim even before the court filing. Officers were sent to the Palm Bay field because vultures had gathered over the luggage, and detectives later used cameras and witness accounts to retrace trips between Indialantic, train tracks and The Compound. Burrows’ statement gave the affidavit some of its most direct language. She told detectives Jones coached her on what to say and how to act in the days after Daniel disappeared, including going to work and carrying on as though nothing had happened. Investigators also wrote that Jones tracked Burrows’ phone and used devices to monitor movement. That detail, while not part of the homicide charge itself, added to the picture detectives laid out of a suspect trying to manage both evidence and a witness after the killing.
Jones remains at the center of the Brevard County case as investigators work through forensic testing and any additional recovery of remains. The next major milestone is the court process tied to the murder charge and any future filings from prosecutors or police.
Author note: Last updated April 4, 2026.