A Marion County jury found 23-year-old Blayze Jurrien White guilty of premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm on June 18, 2026, for the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Derrick Lysander Brown Jr., who was gunned down while sitting on a living-room couch in his Ocala apartment two years earlier. White was immediately sentenced to life in prison following the verdict, closing out the first major judicial chapter in a case investigators say was rooted in gang rivalry.
Brown, known to family and close friends as “DJ,” was shot inside his apartment in the 2800 block of NE 8th Terrace, according to West Orlando News. Ocala Police officers were dispatched to the scene at approximately 11:25 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, 2024, as reported by WKMG. A witness told investigators she heard what sounded like gunshots while lying in bed, then heard a second round of gunfire followed by footsteps outside the bedroom window, before getting two small children in the home to safety.
Emergency medical personnel rushed Brown to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival, according to Ocala-News.com. Crime scene technicians found the living-room window had been shot through multiple times and located spent shell casings on the ground outside the apartment, directly below the window. Investigators also documented multiple shoe prints and vehicle tire treads in the grassy area behind the building, preserving both as evidence.
Turo Records and Surveillance Video Built the Case
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed a Hyundai Elantra speeding out of the apartment complex area shortly after the shooting, per the West Orlando News account. License plate reader data then revealed that the Elantra had been rented through the car-sharing app Turo by White himself, and that the vehicle's built-in GPS had logged trip routes, speed, and rapid acceleration and braking, which helped investigators trace its movements around the time of the killing.
The multi-month investigation that connected those digital rental records and firearms evidence to White and two others was led by Ocala Police Detective Thomas, according to a statement from the Ocala Police Department. A search warrant executed at a residence off Anthony Road turned up a firearm matching the caliber of the shell casings and bullets recovered from the scene, the department said.
Two Co-Defendants Still Await Trial
Ocala Police publicly identified White's two co-defendants in February 2025 as 21-year-old Fredrick Bernard Lowe and 18-year-old Zayshawn Lee Lamar Webb, according to FOX 35 Orlando. Investigators determined that multiple people were involved in a planned shooting targeting Brown, who had a loose connection to a local gang; police say a rival gang was connected to White. Cases against Lowe and Webb remain pending in Marion County court, and the allegations against them are unproven until adjudicated.
White was originally taken into custody on December 17, 2024, and held without bond in the Marion County Jail throughout the pretrial process, per Ocala-News.com's reporting. His trial concluded in June with jurors returning the first-degree murder conviction, and victim advocates supported the Brown family throughout the judicial proceedings.
Prosecutors Reflect on Verdict as Gang Violence Concerns Persist
Assistant State Attorneys Richard Buxman and Amy Berndt prosecuted the case on behalf of the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office. Elected State Attorney Bill Gladson, who leads the office prosecuting criminal cases across Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties, said the verdict and sentence reflected the efforts of law enforcement, the prosecution team, and others seeking justice for Brown and his family, according to the Office of the State Attorney, Fifth Judicial Circuit.
Under Florida Statutes §§ 782.04 and 775.082, premeditated first-degree murder is a capital felony carrying mandatory penalties of either death or life imprisonment without parole, meaning judges have no discretion to impose a shorter sentence once a jury convicts. Florida Department of Law Enforcement statistics show homicides investigated by Ocala Police dropped from 11 in 2023 to 5 in 2024, even as weapons offenses and aggravated assaults saw modest increases that year, according to 352today. Ocala Police supported the prosecution throughout the case, and the department credited the extended investigation into Brown's death with helping secure the conviction.
