20-Year-Old Arrested in Fatal Shooting at Fort Pierce Gold Shop

A 20-year-old Vero Beach man was arrested after a fatal shooting inside a Fort Pierce gold shop, a case that left a 35-year-old woman dead and sent investigators tracing a discarded gun along Interstate 95.

Fort Pierce police responded at about 7:12 p.m. on April 28 to the We Buy Gold and Silver shop, also identified as Cash Out Gold and Silver, at 4603 South U.S. Highway 1. Officers arrived after a 911 call reported a person lying on the floor covered in blood. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators arrested Landen Julian Ballard at his mother’s residence in Fort Pierce on April 29. He faces first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and violation of probation charges. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public. Detectives traced Ballard’s route and recovered a firearm and magazine off Interstate 95, evidence that helped build the case in the hours after the shooting.

Court-record reporting added a sharper view of the violence inside the shop. Surveillance video showed Ballard and the victim speaking before the shooting, and investigators said he fired multiple times until the magazine was empty. Police later said Ballard had asked for a ride to sell a gold pendant, and that the woman may previously have offered him employment. Initial reporting suggested the two did not appear to know each other, but the footage and later accounts pointed to a more complicated, more personal encounter than first believed.

A second arrest followed on May 5, when Tylen Jerome Ryan, 22, of Vero Beach, was booked on a tampering-with-evidence charge and identified as a person of interest. Police said additional charges could still come as the investigation continues.

The killing has also reached beyond St. Lucie County. A vigil in Boynton Beach on May 8 drew mourners for the victim, identified there as Lanessa Rodriguez-Vega, underscoring how quickly a short transaction in a buy-sell gold shop can turn into a violent crime scene with ripple effects across the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County.

For secondhand precious-metals shops, the case is a grim reminder of the pressures built into the business: strangers carrying valuable pieces, cash on hand, and moments that can turn volatile in seconds. In this case, cameras, a discarded weapon and a magazine became the tools that helped investigators close in on Ballard, while a woman’s death left a community searching for answers that the charges alone cannot provide.