Insets, left to right: Joshua Nareau (Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office), James Khoury (Gendron Funeral and Cremation Services). Background: Nareau speaking at Khoury’s funeral (First Baptist Church of North Port).
A Florida man will spend about 20 years in prison for murdering his grandfather who he dubbed “Grampy” while speaking at his funeral.
Joshua Nareau, 24, on Monday pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the death of his grandfather, 71-year-old James S. Khoury. Circuit Judge Shannon H. McFee sentenced Nareau to 246 years in prison, which works out to 20 1/2 years, with credit for time served, court records show.
At his grandfather’s funeral, Joshua Nareau spoke as if he wasn’t the one responsible for his grandfather’s death. He took the microphone at the podium and took a deep breath.
“Jim, I called him Grampy, by blood he was my grandfather, as a person he was my father. He helped raise me. He made me the person I am today,” he said to the crowd of mourners. “You are all here because you knew and loved my grandfather and I thank you so much for that. My goal in life is to be as good as this man was. He helped everyone in this room in some way and I know that.”
Khoury was a beloved deacon at the First Baptist Church of North Port.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Khoury’s wife called 911 around 5:15 a.m. Dec. 28, 2023, to say her husband had been shot. Deputies from the arrived to find Khoury in front of his home suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He had a gun holstered to his hip. His lunch box lay next to him. Paramedics arrived and pronounced Khoury dead.
While deputies searched the scene, they saw Nareau sitting in the grass beside the home. Nareau told deputies his grandmother called him after the shooting and he rushed from his home which is a few hundred yards away, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit.
Khoury’s wife in an interview with detectives said she gave her husband a kiss before he walked out the door. Seconds after he walked outside, she heard a gunshot and her husband called out for her. She ran out and heard him fall. She saw a gunshot wound to his chest and “knew he was dead,” the affidavit said. Fearing for her safety, she rushed back inside and called 911. She mentioned to deputies her husband told her the day before that he heard a gunshot while driving to work but did not notice anything else out of the ordinary.
She said she called Nareau after the shooting. Nareau told deputies he was in bed when in his grandmother called him and he quickly dressed and ran over. He also said she told him there may be a sniper outside. Detectives noted in the affidavit that Khoury’s wife never mentioned anything about a sniper. He also allegedly said he did not hear any shots or see anyone else in the area.
Investigators later found a projectile in a large pine tree which suggested the shooter was on the south side of the home. It’s also the location where Nareau would have come from to get to his grandparents’ house, deputies said.
A download of Nareau’s phone showed his grandma had indeed called him after the shooting. But data also showed that he had walked several hundred meters around the time of the shooting which is roughly the distance to his grandparent’s residence and back, the affidavit said. The activity occurred when he told deputies he had been in bed and before his grandma called him. Detectives confronted Nareau about this, but he again claimed he was in bed and “didn’t know” why the cellphone data would say otherwise, according to the affidavit.
An analysis of the projectile found in the tree showed it could have come from a “Savage” bolt-action rifle which Nareau owns. On Feb. 14, the lab results confirmed the projectile came from Nareau’s rifle, the affidavit said. Detectives did not give a motive for the shooting.
“I am glad to finally be able to bring an update to you on this terrible incident. As you can see, even though we were not able to share much with you, my detectives and forensics team did a great job and we had a direction for the investigation and ultimately got the person responsible,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement. “This does not make it any easier for the family of the victim, who now have even more grief to cope with, but I hope it brings peace of mind to the community once more. Please pray for Mr. Khoury’s family as they navigate this unthinkable situation.”
