OCALA, Fla. — Two north-central Florida men are accused of wounding a woman and her 5-year-old child in a drive-by shooting, authorities said Thursday.
According to Marion County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Kentrai Patterson, 28, and Kedonte Davis, 28, were arrested on Wednesday.
According to online booking records and a news release from the Ocala Police Department, Patterson, a passenger in the suspect vehicle, was charged with attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Davis, who was driving a silver 2014 Chevrolet Impala police said was involved in the incident, is facing accessory charges for the same crimes.
Police said the shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. ET on Sept. 14 in Ocala and impacted three people. The mother was shot in the hand and the child sustained serious injuries to the torso, but is expected to survive, police said. The child’s father was not injured.
Detectives discovered that the family had been followed after leaving Hickory Knoll Apartments. Surveillance footage showed the Impala following the victims’ vehicle before the shooting.
The shooting stemmed from an altercation earlier in the night at an apartment complex parking lot, Ocala police Chief Mike Balken said during a news conference on Tuesday, ABC News reported.
The original incident occurred at about 8 p.m. ET and involved youths ranging in age from 10 to 16 years old.
Several adults came to the scene, but the conflict was seemingly resolved after police arrived, according to ABC News.
The shooting victims were at the scene of that disturbance, visiting family, Balken said.
Officers recovered “multiple shell casings.” Audio evidence from neighborhood cameras confirmed that more than 30 gunshots were discharged on Monday, police said.
The vehicle was registered to Davis and was located on Wednesday. Davis was detained at a business in Ocala and allegedly admitted to being present during the shootings, police said.
Patterson was arrested in Citra, a town located approximately 16 miles north of Ocala.
Both men were booked into the Marion County Jail. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
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