A third person has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old Ocala man last week.
Denver James Sutter, 18, was taken into custody Monday at 5:30 p.m. and charged with homicide/murder (not premediated) during a felony and resisting arrest without violence. He joins 19-year-old Dalton W. Purvis and 16-year-old Carlos Flores-Renteria, who both also have been arrested in the shooting death of 18-year-old Brandon Hammett and have been charged with felony murder.
Marion County sheriff’s detectives are still searching for the shooter in the incident, which took place Friday in the area of Saddlewood Elementary School, located at 3700 SW 43rd Court in Ocala. Hammett was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center with a gunshot wound and ultimately succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, a sheriff’s office report states.
A witness to the shooting who was with Hammett told a Major Crimes detective that Purvis, of Ocala, and another person had left a message for Hammett allegedly asking to purchase “a significant amount of marijuana” and telling him where to meet them. The witness said they drove to the area near the school and she saw Purvis and others “standing off the shoulder of the roadway.”
The woman said they pulled up to the group and an unknown black male asked Hammett “where the weed was.” The woman said Hammett showed him a small bag of marijuana and the black male asked if that was all he had. The woman said the man then pulled a gun from his pants and started shooting, the report says.
Hammett immediately placed his vehicle in reverse and backed away from the man, turned around and drove to the front of the school. He then told the woman “he was not feeling well” and said he “may have been shot.” He suggested the woman drive, stopped the vehicle and lost consciousness, the report says.
Both Purvis and another person admitted to detectives that they were meeting Hammett to purchase marijuana. But both denied knowledge of a planned robbery. Both also said another person, whom they had not met prior to that night, was the one who brought the firearm and shot Hammett. And both stated that a person later identified as Flores-Renteria was the one who contacted the man they claimed shot Hammett, the report states.
Meanwhile, Sutter is being held without bond on the homicide/murder charge and $1,000 bond on the charge of resisting arrest. He is due to appear in court Dec. 4 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.
Sutter is no stranger to the Marion County legal system. He was arrested on Aug. 28 and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer for striking Ocala Police Officer Donald Snow, Marion County Court records show. He was released Sept. 23 on $500 bond and has plead not guilty in the case.
Sutter is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 8 in the battery case, with jury selection scheduled to begin Jan. 22. He is represented by Ocala attorney John Henry Tedder in that case.