Created: 4/2/2009 12:05:15 AM 
SANDERSON, FL -- He died Wednesday night, just a few short hours away from his 57th birthday. The body of Sterling Howell was found under a blanket in his front yard off County Road 229, covered in blood from what appeared to be stab wounds to his upper body.
Less than four hours later, deputies arrested the victim's 25-year-old next-door-neighbor, Aaron Michael Fox, after calls to the authorities from the suspect's mother and sister.
Fox is being held without bail in the Baker County Jail and when a Grand Jury convenes in about five weeks, it will review the evidence to decide if formal first degree murder and grand theft charges will be filed against him.
Sheriff Joey Dobson told First Coast News it began with a call to dispatch from the suspect's mother around 7:30 Wednesday night.
She allegedly told authorities she had overheard her son on the phone threatening some kind of criminal act involving getting their next door neighbor's PIN number, then said he left the home wearing gloves.
Dobson says the mother tried to call the victim to warn him that her son was heading his way.
When the first deputy arrived, they found Howell's lifeless body next to his black and orange, "Geek Squad" van, and soon learned the victim's white pickup truck had been stolen.
Dobson said the suspect got scared when he saw the story on the 11 o'clock news Wednesday night, and called his sister for help.
She agreed to meet her brother, and then she called 911 herself, according to the sheriff.
"She told us that she would cooperate with us and get him to us. That she would pick him up and we could in fact then maybe get him stopped in her vehicle," said Dobson.
Shortly after midnight, Aaron Fox's sister picked him up about four miles from the scene of the crime as sheriff's deputies watched from a distance in their own vehicles.
Dobson said the Fox car was followed for several miles to an area where it was safe to move in, and the car was surrounded and their suspect was taken into custody.
Shortly before noon Thursday, the victim's Ford F-150 was discovered abandoned in the woods. It will be processed for evidence by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is assisting the Baker County Detectives with their murder investigation.
Dobson says Aaron Fox was released from prison about six months ago after being convicted of burglary and grand theft. In an unrelated legal matter, Fox was expected to report to the Duval County jail this coming weekend to serve time for a DUI arrest in the weeks after his release from prison.
The victim, Sterling Howell, was said to be an avid HAM Radio Operator with a Gainesville radio club.
His co-workers for the Best Buy Geek Squad said in addition to this Thursday being his birthday -he would have been 57 -it was his third anniversary as a TV technician.
Sterling Howell's sister is en route from New York after hearing of his death.
Sheriff Dobson said it is not known who Fox was talking to about getting the victim's PIN number, and said more arrests in the case are possible as the investigation continues.
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