Florida man beat woman to death, left body in burning house: Police

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (WPTV) -- A homeless man confessed to beating a 53-year-old woman to death and then leaving her body inside an abandoned home that caught fire in Delray Beach, police said.

Sherric Lee, 31, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Stacey Passick, whose body was found Monday inside the home on Southwest Fourth Avenue.

According to a Delray Beach police report, surveillance video showed Lee walking with Passick in the area shortly before the fire. When detectives questioned Lee about Passick, he admitted that they walked to the home together to use heroin.

"We were high, and I was paranoid, and I thought she had took something from me and I couldn't find it," Lee told detectives, according to the report.

Lee, believing she had taken one of his heroin capsules, said they argued and she got "smart," so he "snapped," shoving her to the ground and punching her, police said. Then, Lee told detectives, he grabbed a metal object and beat her too many times to remember, saying he "just zoned out and kept hitting her," police said. Lee denied starting the fire, police said.

Lee was held without bond Wednesday morning at the main Palm Beach County jail on murder and drug charges.

MORE:

• Press conference: Arrest in murder investigation - Delray Police Dept. Facebook

• Update: Death investigation ruled homicide - Delray Police Dept. Facebook

• Homeless man beat woman to death, left body inside burning Delray Beach home, police say - WPTV

• Man admits to fatally beating woman found in burning Delray Beach home, police say - Palm Beach Post