Ocala Police officers have arrested a second man they believe was involved the murder of a confidential informant.
Allison K. Mells, 53, was taken into custody and charged with being a principal to first degree murder of Roland Henry Lanctot, who was found dead in his tent Jan. 17 in the area of NW Blitchton Road and NW 33rd Avenue. On Monday, 27-year-old La’Mathis Hamilton was arrested and charged with first degree murder in the case.
Mells was arrested after a source told police that he allegedly paid Hamilton to kill Lanctot. As a confidential informant, Lanctot apparently had conducted several purchases for a drug enforcement agent, including those with Mells’ son, Kenneth Mills, an Ocala Police report states.
The report also states that Hamilton admitted selling a .38-caliber revolver to Mells after he and his son allegedly asked him to kill Lanctot. But Hamilton denied killing Lanctot, saying instead that he drove Mills to the area where the murder took place. He claimed Mills “got out of the car and walked to kill Lanctot,” the report says.
On Monday, Mells told Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham that he had a court date coming up but was going to turn himself in “because the word on the street was that some guy was saying he paid someone to do this.” He then stated that he wouldn’t kill someone to keep his son out of prison when he’s already been there twice before, the report says.
Ocala Police detectives tried to speak with Mells but he refused to talk with them. He was then transported to the Marion County Jail, charged with being a principal to first degree murder and held with no bond.