On Thursday, January 15, 2026, at approximately 12:48 p.m., the Bradenton Police Department received multiple reports of shots fired at a medical and office complex in the 5200 block of 4th Avenue Circle East. This commercial area, located near the Publix at River Edge shopping center just off State Road 64, became the scene of a targeted domestic violence murder that left a young mother dead and another woman fighting for her life.
Keith Roberts Jr., a 29-year-old man who worked as a security guard at nearby Manatee Memorial Hospital, entered a suite of offices in the complex armed with a shotgun and a handgun. Police Chief Josh Cramer stated that Roberts had been in a long-term dating relationship with 29-year-old Myshaela “Shayla” Burnham, a relationship that had ended within the past month.
Witnesses inside the medical processing lab, a facility that does not serve patients, described a horrifying sequence of events. Knowing where his ex-girlfriend’s desk was located, Roberts walked through an unlocked door, went directly to her workstation, and fired multiple shotgun blasts at point-blank range. The force of the blast was so intense that it also injured a female co-worker at a nearby desk.
According to Chief Cramer, Roberts then, in what was described as a premeditated act, took out a handgun and began shooting at the wounded co-worker, who had witnessed the homicide. Myshaela Burnham, a mother of a 6-year-old son, died at the scene. Her co-worker was shot multiple times and was rushed to a hospital, where she underwent surgery and remains in stable condition with a long road to recovery ahead.
A swift and coordinated law enforcement response followed. Citizens who witnessed the events provided crucial information to 911 dispatchers, including a detailed description of the vehicle Roberts used to flee the scene. Police determined the car was heading toward the DeSoto Bridge into the neighboring city of Palmetto.
With the assistance of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Palmetto Police Department, officers located and stopped the vehicle near the Bradenton Area Convention Center at 1:12 p.m., just 24 minutes after the initial 911 call, and took Roberts into custody without further incident. He later agreed to an interview with homicide detectives and was formally arrested shortly before 6 p.m. the same day.
Keith Roberts Jr. now faces charges of first-degree murder with a firearm and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. He is being held without bond at the Manatee County Jail. His first court appearance was held on Friday, January 16, and a pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for January 23. The Bradenton Police Department’s Homicide Investigation Unit continues its work on the case, which Chief Cramer denounced as an act of “cruelty and evil” that terrorized innocent people in their workplace.
