A Duval County jury has found 26-year-old Santos Herring Jr. guilty of second-degree murder in the May 2024 shooting death of 22-year-old Derrick Nicholls, whose blue sedan veered off the roadway near the Interstate 295 and Interstate 10 interchange after he was shot once in the back. Nicholls was pronounced dead at a local hospital following the crash. Herring now faces up to life in prison in Florida state custody.
The verdict, announced by the State Attorney's Office Fourth Judicial Circuit, capped a case built largely on cell phone records and a frantic call Nicholls made to his girlfriend in his final minutes. According to 104.5 WOKV, Herring and Nicholls knew each other through past business dealings, and Herring claimed Nicholls owed him $10,000. Digital evidence presented at trial revealed Herring had demanded money from Nicholls and issued numerous threats in the lead-up to the shooting, the station reported.
Court filings detailed just how long the pursuit had been building. Per the State Attorney's Office Fourth Judicial Circuit, digital evidence showed Herring spent several hours waiting at a gas station that Nicholls frequently visited, sending calls and text messages attempting to coax him into a meeting before the chase ever began. Nicholls told his girlfriend during a phone call shortly before the shooting that a white sedan was chasing him, and investigators determined Herring was behind the wheel of that car, which belonged to his girlfriend, the same source notes.
Bullet Holes Tell the Story of a Moving Target
Investigators who processed Nicholls' blue sedan found bullet holes piercing the front driver-side door in addition to the single fatal wound that entered his back, according to the same account from the state attorney's office.
Under Florida Statute § 782.04(2), second-degree murder is defined as an unpremeditated killing carried out by an act imminently dangerous to others that evinces a depraved mind without regard for human life, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison, as explained by FindLaw. The case included evidence of numerous threats and several hours of efforts to contact Nicholls before the shooting.
Mandatory Minimum Looms at Sentencing
Because a firearm was discharged during the crime, Herring's sentencing will be shaped by Florida's 10-20-Life law. Florida Statute § 775.087 mandates a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison when a gun is discharged during a violent felony resulting in death or great bodily harm, according to The Florida Senate. Duval County Circuit Judge London Kite, who presided over the trial alongside Assistant State Attorneys Katherina Brown and Lauren Randall, was expected to have a sentencing date set later in October.
Herring was 24 years old when he was formally charged with second-degree murder in September 2024, four months after the shooting, and he was already being held at the Duval County jail on unrelated charges when Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives linked him to the killing through physical and digital evidence, WJXT News4JAX reported at the time.
A Highway Killing
Nicholls' death remains a stark reminder that disputes that start off the highway can end violently on it. With Herring's conviction secured, his fate now rests on the sentence Judge Kite will impose.
