Broward cold-case detectives charged Brittany Hanfield and Sheila Arstil with murder in the 2007 killing of Leon Heron.

Thursday's announcement is the public account of two first-degree murder charges in a killing that sat unsolved for nearly 19 years. Detective David Towsley says the evidence includes DNA and confessions. That is his description of the file. A grand jury indictment of Arstil on Oct. 7, and Hanfield's arrest on Nov. 10, 2025, are charging steps. They are not a trial.

CBS Miami and NBC 6 reported Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, that Brittany Hanfield and Sheila Arstil are charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Leon Heron, 34, outside his apartment in Lauderdale Lakes. CBS Miami reported both are being held without bond at the Broward County Jail. NBC 6 reported the same no-bond hold. The Boca Post, describing the Broward Sheriff's Office account, reported Hanfield was arrested on the murder charge on Nov. 10, 2025, and that a Broward County grand jury indicted Arstil on first-degree murder on Oct. 7, 2026. CBS Miami's Thursday story said Arstil was charged last week. Those dates are the charging record the outlets gave. They are not a verdict.

The shooting was May 13, 2007. The Boca Post, citing the sheriff's office, reported Heron was walking toward the apartment he shared with his wife, carrying dinner from Taco Bell, and did not make it inside. CBS Miami reported he had just gotten out of his car in the apartment-complex parking lot. Cold Case Detective David Towsley told CBS Miami that two 17-year-old women were driving around Broward County in a stolen SUV looking for someone to rob, that they confronted Heron and demanded his property, and that he started getting the better of them until one of them shot him. NBC 6 reported the same account: two people demanded his property, he fought, and one of them shot him. Towsley told CBS Miami that one of the two had a handgun. They were 17 in 2007. The women charged now are adults.

The case moved on a prison tip. The Boca Post reported that in April 2023 Towsley was told a Florida prison inmate had information about a Broward murder, and that he met Hanfield, who said she was a witness and gave vague details. CBS Miami reported she first said she was only a witness and later gave a detailed account. NBC 6 and the Boca Post reported the investigation then determined she was a participant, not a witness, and that the same investigation identified Arstil. Towsley told NBC 6 and the Boca Post that the evidence against them is strong and includes DNA and confessions. A detective's description of DNA and of statements is the accusation in the file. It is not a finding a jury has made.

Towsley also talked about the family. He told CBS Miami that Heron's relatives are "extremely happy to know finally what happened to him and that he can rest in peace." He told NBC 6 that Heron's mother was grateful to learn what happened after years of not knowing why her son was killed. Those are a detective's account of a conversation with a family. They do not decide the charges. Hanfield and Arstil are charged with first-degree murder and are being held without bond. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.