Working with the state attorney’s office, the Leesburg Police Department has arrested two 17-year-olds in connection with the shooting death of Juan “Junie” Gomez Jr.
One co-defendant was arrested on a charge of third-degree principal to murder and possession of firearms. The other was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder.
Gomez, 18, was fatally shot on Dec. 14 at Berry Park in Leesburg. The co-defendants, whose names are withheld because of their ages, were being held without bail as of March 2, according to police.
“It was a heavy day yesterday,” Junie’s mother, Valerie Long, told the Daily Commercial after sharing the charges had become official.
What does the arrest affidavit say about the shooting?
According to the arrest affidavit, surveillance video from city of Leesburg cameras at Berry Park captured the time frame of the shooting.
Four people, including the two co-defendants, were observed walking into the park about 12:22 p.m. on Dec. 14, which was about 30 minutes before the shooting.
During an interview with LPD, one of the two people not charged said they got a ride to Leesburg the day of the shooting “to hang out” with the co-defendants and smoke cannabis. The four met up in Carver Heights and walked to the restroom area of Berry Park. This person was told that Junie Gomez was going to meet them at the park to “smoke.”
Law enforcement got written consent to search the victim’s phones, according to the affidavit. According to police, a chat message identified the victim negotiating with one of the co-defendants for the purchase of a .45-caliber handgun.
They negotiated the price until they settled on the victim agreeing to provide $175 in cash and two marijuana edibles in exchange for the firearm, according to the affidavit. The deal began with a post on social media.
Later, when speaking to police, that co-defendant denied setting up a deal and said other people had access to his social media.
At the park, once the co-defendants and companions were inside the Mazda that Junie Gomez had borrowed from his mother, one of the co-defendants sitting in the back began “rolling a joint, smoking and playing on his phone,” the affidavit says.
One of the two people not arrested told police that they and that co-defendant were not paying attention to what was going on in the front seat and “that marijuana edibles were present.”
One youth in the back seat heard a loud bang, saw a lot of smoke, and saw that the victim had been shot by the co-defendant who was sitting in the front passenger seat, according to the affidavit.
The youth ran away. In the process, his “red-colored slide-type shoes came off” and were left behind, which was consistent with what was observed on surveillance video, according to the affidavit.
One of the co-defendants was spotted carrying a backpack out of the car, which he strapped on while fleeing the scene. None of the people had entered the car with a backpack, the affidavit says.
On Nov. 24, less than a month before the shooting, one of the co-defendants had been charged with possession of a firearm by a delinquent.
After running from the park, the co-defendants arrived at a nearby home. Leesburg Police responded to a burglary call there, the affidavit says. The burglary victim identified the two co-defendants by name. They were gone by the time police arrived.
Security video from that burglary scene shows one of the co-defendants in possession of the same backpack that his co-defendant had removed from the vehicle, the affidavit says.
The burglary victim told police that “the suspects fled the area when the victim refused to provide them transportation and notified the police.”
According to the affidavit, one of the co-defendants was on probation at the time and was required to wear an ankle monitor. The Department of Juvenile Justice was contacted and tracked the monitor, providing his last known location on South 14th Street in Leesburg.
“When officers arrived at the location, the abandoned monitor was located in a field adjacent to the business,” the affidavit says.
On Jan. 7, a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that the projectile and spent casing recovered in Junie’s mother’s car were from a .45-caliber gun, and the spent casing displayed characteristics consistent with Springfield and Glock-type firearms, consistent with the caliber of firearm discussed in the deal between the victim and one of the co-defendants.
One co-defendant identified the other as the shooter, saying it happened during an argument, the affidavit says.
Anyone with more information about this case is urged to contact the Leesburg Police Department or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg teens, both 17, charged in Junie Gomez shooting death
Reporting by Julie Garisto, Leesburg Daily Commercial / Daily Commercial
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