Two arrested in feud-related shooting of teen

ST. PETERSBURG - Police arrested two people today in connection with a shooting that wounded a 15-year-old boy and is linked to an ongoing feud.

Louis Smith, 14, was arrested on a charge of attempted first degree murder. Raymond Lewis, 18, was arrested on a charge of being a principal to attempted first degree murder.

Police said Monday's shooting of Telvin Bell is related to an incident about a week and a half ago when someone riddled his mother Tiffany Washington's home on 28th Avenue S with bullets because her daughter was friends with a 17-year-old who was wanted for shooting and killing another teenager he was feuding with.

Washington said local teenagers have also burglarized her home, stealing DVDs and a dirt bike. She says she moved into her home on 28th Avenue S in the Harbordale neighborhood because it was where they could afford a seven bedroom house for her family. She has four sons and three daughters.

"I don't feel safe," said Washington, 34. "I feel like we need to get out of that place."

Washington said her son Telvin Bell, a Riviera Middle School student, was in good condition at Bayfront Medical Center. He was hit in the buttocks and right shoulder.

Police say Telvin was walking home when he passed a green house where five people were sitting on the porch, and that he recognized several of them. Washington said one of the men said "Let's jump him." another said: "No, let's just shoot him."

The men began chasing after Telvin. Police say someone pulled out a large black revolver and fired. Telvin heard five or six shots, and he was hit twice. He managed to make it home, and someone called 911.

The feud has engulfed Washington's family because police arrested Lenorak Keels, 17, the friend of Washington's daughter. Police say he shot and killed 18-year-old Levaud Landers.

But Washington said it is ludicrous to include her family in the dispute between two warring groups of friends. They just moved to Harbordale a few months ago, and Washington said her daughter is friends with all the kids in the neighborhood.

"These kids, it ain’t like it was when were growing up," Washington said. "We just had fistfights. Now we've got to bury kids every week."

Police ask anyone with information to call (727) 893-7780.

-- Abhi Raghunathan, Times Staff Writer