Police find last suspect in Holmes Beach beating

UPDATED April 14 at 1 p.m. with arrest of third suspect

HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - Holmes Beach Police have found the remaining teenage suspect in the beating a man while walking his dogs at Anna Maria Elementary School on March 23.

Cameron Leron Evans, 18, of Sarasota, was arrested Thursday morning by Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies. One suspect, a 17-year-old from Ellenton, was arrested Wednesday, police say. One other juvenile has also been charged in the incident.

The victim, identified by his family as Evan Purcell, was walking his dogs on the school property with his 10-year-old niece. Purcell saw a group of teenagers drinking and possibly vandalizing the school, police say.

Purcell yelled at the group to stop and to leave school property. The teenagers became aggressive coming toward Purcell, causing Purcell to pull out a pocket knife to scare them away.

Several of the boys in the group attacked Purcell, hitting him in the head with a wooden object, possibly a skateboard. He was punched and kicked repeatedly in the face and head while he was on the ground until he was unconscious.

Purcell was taken to Blake Medical Center and is now recovering. A GoFundMe page has been created to help Purcell’s family pay for hospital bills: https://www.gofundme.com/f/evan-purcells-hospital-bills