Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrested Tavery Houston for 1st Degree Premeditated Murder of Orwig that occurred at his residence on Burgess Avenue. (BCSO Image)
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Brevard County Sheriff’s Homicide Unit makes an arrest on the Cold Case Murder of Franklin Orwig that occurred in August of 2023.
On April 7, Agents from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrested Tavery Houston for 1st Degree Premeditated Murder of Orwig that occurred at his residence on Burgess Avenue.
The investigation that led to Houston’s arrest was initiated after our Communications Center received a call regarding a shooting at 5500 Burgess Ave in Cocoa.
Once Deputies arrived, they located Franklin Orwig, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Orwig was quickly transported to a nearby hospital, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by the attending physicians.
Brevard County Sheriff’s Homicide Unit makes an arrest on the Cold Case Murder of Franklin Orwig (above) that occurred in August of 2023.
While Agents had limited information to work with, other than witnesses reporting seeing a man wearing a mask leaving the area, they were able to develop reliable information that the shooter went by the alias of Cookie. Agents subsequently determined that “Cookie” was a nickname for Tavery Houston, who was then approached for questioning.
Throughout the investigation, various items of evidence and interviews were collected that conclusively proved Houston planned and carried out the shooting, which ultimately occurred over a money dispute.
I want to thank everyone for a great job on this investigation, as Houston is now behind bars on a No Bond status for 1st degree Premeditated Murder.
Our Agents, Analysts, and Crime Scene members worked diligently at getting a violent individual off of our streets and behind bars where he can’t victimize anyone else.
