[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 07/07/20]
LEESBURG, Florida — A man has been arrested and charged with two counts of first degree premeditated murder after two women were found dead in a burned-out mobile home in unincorporated Leesburg Tuesday morning following a 9-1-1 call from one of the victims stating, “I have been shot.”
James Kenneth Porteous, 57, whose listed address is in Atlanta, Georgia, was walking out of the carport of the burning mobile home around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday on East Dale Street in Lakeside Village off County Road 44, when Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the home on fire. Porteous allegedly said he shot two people and they were inside; deputies asked who was inside and Porteous apparently responded, but their names are redacted from the affidavit. Porteous told deputies where two guns were located, and he was secured in a patrol car and read his rights; he then asked for an attorney, according to the arrest affidavit.
Lake County Fire Rescue responded to the scene and extinguished the fire and found the burned bodies of two women inside.
“We do know who [the women] are, we are not releasing [their names] because the next of kin has not been notified yet,” LCSO Sgt. Fred Jones told Lake Legal News Tuesday morning.
Porteous lived with the women as a family in the past, a detective noted in the affidavit.
A witness told deputies he heard gunshots and went outside to investigate. He found the home on fire and Porteous standing in the carport. Porteous reportedly said he shot two people inside and set the home on fire, according to the affidavit.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
