A Florida therapist who specializes in anger management has been charged with murder for allegedly shooting a man to death as part of an ongoing dispute and then stuffing his body in his car.
Travis McBride, 46, the owner of Starting Point Mental Health in DeLand, was arrested after police responded Thursday morning to a call about a “suspicious” incident at a home on South Frankfort Avenue.
“There’s been a murder that happened,” a caller told police, WESH reported.
“We got a couple of eyewitnesses, and I believe … the person right now he’s looking at the road, cleaning up the blood off the ground.”
The caller told the 911 dispatcher: “I just saw him drag the body across the road. He put it in his car, and then he left.
“And then he came back, and not even 10 minutes ago he started scrubbing the road, and now I see him in the yard with a flashlight looking around,” the person added, according to the outlet.
DeLand police Capt. Prurince Dice told WKMG that police “located some shell casings from a firearm and located some blood in the street.”
Deputies found the bullet-riddled body of 52-year-old Clinton Dorsey inside the trunk of McBride’s red Nissan Versa near Frankfort Avenue and New York Avenue, according to cops.
While searching the area, the cops noticed McBride walking near the scene and arrested him.
“We believe there was an ongoing dispute between McBride and our victim. I don’t know if they knew each other, but they knew of each other. It unfortunately ended in one man’s death,” Police Chief Jason Umberger told the outlet.
The deputies also spoke to a neighbor who said McBride came to her home the day before looking for Dorsey because he “put glass in a jar for his dogs,” Fox 35 Orlando reported, citing an arrest affidavit.
McBride allegedly told the woman he was going to kill Dorsey, whom she described as a “homeless guy who lives in the woods across the street from her house,” arrest records reportedly state.
Another person told deputies he saw bloody clothing inside a dumpster, which was near McBride’s car, the outlet reported.
Several other witnesses reportedly told police that they heard gunshots the night Dorsey was killed.
When he was arrested, McBride had injuries on his hands, arms and torso – and told cops he suffered the wounds from training dogs and from “shooting,” according to Fox 35.
The suspect was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and is held without bond at the Volusia County jail. He has not entered a plea.
Despite being an anger-management specialist, McBride has a lengthy rap sheet, including an arrest in 1995 for felony aggravated battery, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
He pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor battery and completed a deferred prosecution agreement, according to the outlet.
In 1996, he was arrested on another felony charge of aggravated battery and was sentenced to probation after it was dropped to a misdemeanor, the News-Journal reported
In 2017, McBride was arrested on a charge of domestic battery by strangulation, according to the paper.
His then wife said he choked her after he was upset when she took his dog by the collar and placed it outside.
McBride denied choking her and she said she didn’t want to pursue charges, the outlet reported, adding that he completed a deferred prosecution agreement that included fines, no violent contact with the victim and counseling.
The suspect attended the University of Central Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2005 and a master’s in clinical psychology in 2007, according to his LinkedIn page.
He previously owned Central Florida Mental Health, where he also served as a therapist, according to the bio.
McBride opened Starting Point Mental Health on East New York Avenue in DeLand in 2009, according to its website.
“Placing a strong emphasis on maintaining a solid, trusting relationship with his client’s (SIC) Travis has worked extensively with individuals, couples, groups, and families on resolving a wide variety of mental health concerns,” the site states.
“Travis has provided therapeutic services to adolescents who have entered the justice system for a variety of reasons and to individuals and families impacted by the natural disasters Central Florida has faced in recent years,” according to the business.
His listed areas of expertise include anger management, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and bipolar disorder.
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