Dade City man slain; another is questioned

DADE CITY -- There was a gunshot Thursday morning. A rush to call the authorities.

Then hours of waiting for the facts to emerge about the last moments of a young man's life.

By day's end, authorities confirmed that Aula (pronounced OOH-la) Matthew Penix, 22, died of a gunshot wound inside the home at 37145 Tait Ave., a tattered white clapboard house with faded yellow trim.

Another man, identified only as a possible suspect, was taken into custody, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said. Few other details were available.

The Sheriff's Office was called to the Tommytown home at 9:43 a.m., shortly after the shooting. Deputies quickly determined the young man inside was dead.

Because the possible suspect might have lived in the house, sheriff's officials had to leave the home and get a search warrant before they could go back inside to investigate, Capt. Pete Petrosky said.

Tension grew as the wait dragged on. Hours passed before detectives could go back inside -- or say, for sure, who had died.

"What I need to know is if that's my child on the floor in there," the man's anguished mother, Katheren Penix Southward, told an officer.

Later that afternoon, authorities confirmed her fears. The family watched quietly about 4:30 p.m. as the medical examiner wheeled the body through the home's barren yard, past the chain-link fence and into a vehicle parked on the dusty dirt road.

"It is a terrible way to die," said his aunt, Eunice Penix, who is a Dade City Commissioner. "And so young, too."

Aula Penix, of 14627 State St. in Dade City, was the oldest of three boys. He was a running back for the Pirates football team during his years at Pasco High School. He also played basketball and ran track, according to newspaper accounts.

His youth also had its rough spots. In 1997 he pleaded no contest to charges of car burglary and possession of burglary tools, according to state records. He received 10 months of probation.

Records show he also was arrested in 1997 for battery and in 2000 for resisting an officer without violence.

As news of Penix's death spread Thursday, sobs punctuated the otherwise quiet streets of Tommytown. Penix's brother, 21-year-old Akili, tore off his white T-shirt and walked angrily toward the home surrounded by sheriff's cars and yellow crime scene tape.

"Who the f--- shot my brother?" he cried out. "Who the f--- shot my brother?"

-- Bridget Hall Grumet covers crime in east Pasco. She can be reached at (352) 521-5757, ext. 23 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 23. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com .

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