An Alachua teenager was charged with murder after two shootings within a two-day span left one dead and five injured, including two children and a UF student’s nephew.
Kemarri Latrell Hampton, 15, is accused of shooting Dana Walker Jr., 27, to death Jan. 14 near Alachua’s Maude Lewis Park, located at 15731 NW 141st St., a roughly 30-minute drive north of UF, Alachua Police Chief Chad Scott said Tuesday.
Hampton was first put into juvenile detention Jan. 19 on a charge of perjury of a capital proceeding after police felt he intentionally lied under oath in relation to the shooting, Scott said. Hampton turned 15 years old just four days before the shooting.
Scott said Walker’s shooting likely led to a retaliation shooting less than 30 hours later, which sent two children and three adult victims to the hospital, one of whom, a 19-year-old man, was in critical condition.
Scott said the 19-year-old is now stable but was unsure if the two children who were injured are still in the hospital. More information in relation to the second shooting will be released in “the very near future,” he said.
Police believe the two shootings are gang-related, according to Alligator archives.
He said police are unsure whether Hampton has information on what happened in the second shooting, but that it is likely he personally knew the victims.
“I’m sure they were friends,” he said. “It’s a close community; everybody knows everybody.”
Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @hoffdavid123.
