By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Rex Curry placed signs facing his neighbor. Examples: “STOP BARKING DOGS! (& the cowards/criminals who hide behind them)” and “America’s Dumbest Criminal? John W. LeBron.”
TAMPA — The neighbors' feud had been building for years. Anyone driving by could see. Signs in one man's yard disparage the other. Mediation in 2008 didn't work.
The tension exploded last week with three bullets and the death of a dog named Jada.
No one saw Ellis "Rex" Curry IV pull a revolver from his fanny pack and shoot his neighbor's American bulldog.
Tampa police say Curry told them he did it in self-defense. His neighbor, John William LeBron, doesn't buy that.
LeBron, 31, says Curry has harassed him and his wife since 2007 because Curry hates their dogs' barking.
Curry, 49, hasn't responded to calls or e-mails from the St. Petersburg Times, but in ...