Second Suspect Charged in May Motel Shooting That Killed a Jacksonville Man, Police Say
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says a 21-year-old man already in the Duval County jail has been charged as the second gunman in the May 29 shooting death of Giavonathan Butler, 40, at a Golfair Boulevard motel.
A second man has been charged in connection with a shooting at a Jacksonville motel in May that left a 40-year-old man dead, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Police said Dequan McDonald, 21, has been charged as the second gunman in the death of Giavonathan Butler, News4JAX reported.
The Sheriff's Office SWAT team took 25-year-old Alfred Jones III into custody two days after the May 29 shooting at the Golfair Boulevard motel, according to the report. Police said evidence at the motel room scene showed Jones did not act alone, and the investigation continued until detectives identified McDonald as the second gunman. Officers dispatched to the motel on May 29 found Butler on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head, and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue personnel pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the arrest reporting published in June; investigators recovered two 9mm shell casings near the victim.
McDonald was arrested in July in connection with a string of vehicle burglaries and thefts in the Cobblestone area and has been in the Duval County jail since then awaiting trial on those charges, police said. Homicide detectives received a warrant on Wednesday for McDonald's arrest in Butler's murder, and he continues to be held in the Duval County jail, according to the Sheriff's Office as reported by News4JAX. A charge is an allegation; McDonald has not been convicted in the case.
