Roam Ministry leader Jonathan Frazier fatally shot protecting patron at Orlando banquet hall

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Family and friends of Pastor Jonathan Frazier of Roam Ministry in Orlando, Florida, are now in mourning after police say he became the second person to die in the aftermath of a shooting during an event held at a banquet hall operated by him and his wife on Saturday.

In a statement to The Christian Post on Tuesday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Frazier, 37, died in a local hospital Monday after the mass shooting at Unity Banquet Hall that's located in a strip mall.

“We are sorry to report that a second person has died from injuries sustained in this June 24 shooting,” the statement said, identifying Frazier as the victim.

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Police say at about 12:10 a.m., on June 24, deputies responded to reports of a shooting at the banquet hall and when they arrived on the scene, they found a man inside of a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound and he was rushed to a local hospital. Investigators subsequently learned that three other men, all in their 20s and 30s, were shot.

Willie Alphonso Bell Jr., 28, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other two men who were shot are in stable condition.

Investigators say there are currently no suspects in the shooting. They have offered a $5,000 reward for information that might lead to an arrest, but no one has yet come forward.

“Detectives are continuing to work all leads in this case. We can’t stress enough how important it is for anyone with information to come forward, no matter how insignificant that information may seem,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in their statement.

“As we said previously, there were more than 50 — possibly close to 100 — people at the event when the shooting started outside the venue just after midnight on 6/24. With very few exceptions, no one would speak with deputies or detectives about what transpired. Even the two other people who were shot and had non-life-threatening injuries — both men in their late 20s — refused to cooperate with investigators before leaving the hospital,” they added.

 Frazier’s wife, Shamara Frazier, lists the address of the mall on her Facebook page, as the location of her business, UniTees Printing & Entertainment Rentals LLC. The event space was also being used for the late pastor’s ministry on Sundays, according to Pastor Stovelleo Stovall of God is Able Church.

Stovall said Frazier, who is only 5 feet tall, died trying to protect a young woman from getting shot.

"A young lady was trying to show her man a good time by throwing him a surprise birthday party," Stovall told FOX 35 News. "He covered her up when the shooting went on."

Stovall said despite Frazier’s height, "His heart was so big, and he was a giant."

Many people who knew of Frazier and his ministry, like his godmother, Helen Morris Robbins, pointed out how he had changed his life by going from “prison to the pulpit.”

“Gun violence has hit my family again Jonathan Frazier. I am in shock my boys are hurting. This one hurt me,” she wrote on Facebook. “My godson changed his life preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ he went from prison to the pulpit. Why? Please tell me why. I am at a loss for words right now? …  Praying for his wife and kids. I love you guys to pieces.”

In his last recorded message livestreamed on Facebook on Father’s Day, Frazier preached that the role of a father is to prepare his children for when they are no longer around.

“When it seems like things are falling all apart. When it seems like things can never be fixed, we know that there is a God that loves us and that’s an unfailing God,” he said.

“We know that Father’s Day and being a father is not just about buying your children … name brand clothes. It’s about teaching your children when mother and father are no longer around, how you can survive. Who you can depend on. Because God said in His Word that He will never leave you nor forsake you,” he added. “When friends leave you, when family leave you, God won’t leave you. And I am a living testimony. I spent many nights in a cold cell — can’t call on my momma, can’t call my daddy, can’t call on my friends. The only name I can call on is Jesus.”