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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

18-year-old Ocala man charged with first degree murder in connection with fatal shooting

An 18-year-old Ocala man is facing a felony charge for first degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred outside the 7 Days Food Store located at 2002 NW 1st Avenue.

On Friday, March 25, the Ocala Police Department responded to the store in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located the victim, 23-year-old Jacorie McCullough, who was laying on the front parking lot with a single gunshot wound.

McCullough was transported to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital for medical assistance where he was later pronounced deceased.

An OPD detective spoke with employees at the store who stated that they had overheard a single gunshot. The store had video surveillance footage which showed the incident.

According to the OPD report, the detective watched the footage and observed a young man in a yellow shirt who approached McCullough’s SUV, opened a back passenger door, and removed a backpack from the passenger area of the SUV.

The young man in the yellow shirt was later identified as a 14-year-old boy who is not being named by Ocala-News due to his age.

McCullough confronted the 14-year-old boy and pushed him away from the SUV. McCullough then grabbed the backpack and placed it in the front passenger area of the SUV.

Three additional men stepped into view on the surveillance camera. One of those men attempted to break up an altercation between McCullough and another man who was later identified as Leandre Rashad Cox.

Leandre Rashad Cox
Leandre Rashad Cox

The OPD report states that Cox was seen on the footage reaching into the front waistline of his pants. Cox allegedly approached McCullough with a silver handgun in his right hand and a physical altercation ensued. During this altercation, the handgun was pointed in McCullough’s direction, and the victim was observed falling to the ground.

Cox, along with the 14-year-old boy and the unidentified third man, retrieved the backpack from McCullough’s SUV and then they fled the area on foot. They headed northbound on NW 1st Avenue until they were out of the surveillance camera’s field of view.

During a forensic cellphone extraction, an OPD detective found a text message thread between Cox and another individual. In this message thread, Cox stated, “Anywhere we see Palay he getting robbed.” According to OPD, Palay was a known nickname of McCullough.

According to the OPD report, a detective interviewed a relative of Cox and the relative was shown the store’s video surveillance footage from the time of the incident. The relative told the detective that the shooter “looked like Cox” and that Cox had been observed wearing the same style of jeans earlier in the day.

On Monday, March 28, the 14-year-old boy was located and arrested during a traffic stop. He is being charged with murder, according to OPD.

On Tuesday, March 29 at around 11 p.m., Cox was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail where he is currently being held without bond. He is facing a felony charge for first degree murder and a court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.

OPD detectives are still actively investigating this case, and at least one additional suspect is still at large. If anyone has any information that could help the investigation, please call Detective Kern at 352-369-7000.