An Ocala man who shot his friend in the abdomen near the University of Florida last fall has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Earlier this month, on April 10, 25-year-old Fabian Marcel Rivera pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) to attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shooting incident that occurred in September of 2024.
Following the plea, an Alachua County judge sentenced Rivera to 15 years’ imprisonment, with credit for 201 days already served.
Back on September 22, 2024, at around 3:35 a.m., Gainesville Police Department officers responded to the 1700 block of NW 1st Avenue in Gainesville in reference to a woman who had been shot. Upon arrival, officers observed the female victim laying on the sidewalk with a single gunshot wound to her lower abdomen, according to the arrest report.
The victim was transported to a local hospital, where she immediately underwent surgery.
The report stated that prior to the shooting, the victim was standing next to the open driver’s side door of a vehicle. Inside the vehicle was a male witness, who was seated in the driver’s seat, and a front-seat passenger who was identified as Rivera.
According to the report, the witness was “on his cellphone” while sitting in the driver’s seat. He told officers that he then heard a “loud bang,” and he saw that the victim was on the ground. When he turned to his right, he saw Rivera holding a handgun that had been stored in the vehicle’s center console.
Immediately after the shooting, the witness advised that he exited the vehicle to help the victim.
A second male witness spoke with police and advised that he was sitting in a parked vehicle on the opposite side of the street when he heard a gunshot and a “blood-curdling scream.” He stated that he ran to the female victim, removed his shirt, and applied pressure to her gunshot wound until law enforcement arrived on scene.
The second witness further advised that Rivera “fled the scene on foot” shortly after the shooting.
An officer noted in the report that video surveillance footage of the incident showed the first witness sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. While the witness was looking down at his phone with the driver’s door open, Rivera and the victim were looking at each other and appeared to be having a conversation.
Rivera appeared to be drinking from a can, and the victim was observed on the footage reaching into the vehicle and retrieving a different can. The report stated that Rivera was then observed looking down at the center console area of the vehicle before looking in the victim’s direction.
On the footage, Rivera leaned his torso forward. He was then observed extending his right arm and pointing the firearm at the victim. Moments later, a single gunshot was fired, and Rivera “stared (at the victim) for over 30 seconds” before exiting the vehicle, throwing a drink can into the bushes, and fleeing from the area on foot, according to the report.
GPD officers quickly located Rivera, and he was apprehended following a brief foot chase. After being read his Miranda rights, Rivera claimed that he had picked up the handgun to “secure it in the center console” because “they all had been drinking alcohol.” The report stated that he further claimed the shooting was “an accident,” and he mentioned that the victim was “like a little sister” to him.
In the report, an officer noted that Rivera “could not describe how the firearm was actually discharged or what made the shooting an accident.”
The handgun and a single shell casing were found inside the vehicle that Rivera had been sitting in at the time of the shooting. In addition, officers located a can of Four Loko in the area that matched the size and shape of the drink can seen on the video surveillance footage.
Rivera was arrested and transported to Alachua County Jail, where he remained in custody on an attempted murder charge until his sentencing on April 10, 2025.