Leesburg man charged with second-degree felony murder. The body was set on fire.
LEESBURG – A man's dead body set on fire next to a car, text messages filled with gang lingo, and a palm print found on the car led Lake County sheriff’s detectives to arrest and charge a man with second-degree felony murder.
Darion D. McGee, 30, of Leesburg, was arrested Sunday and held at the county jail, where bail was set at $25,000.
The sheriff’s office received a 911 call on Dec.17, 2021 about a fire in the 1600 block of Veech Road in Leesburg.
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The caller, who lived next to the vacant lot, said she heard three to five gunshots earlier, but did not act until her brother called and said he saw something about it on Facebook.
Deputies found the lifeless body lying face down and ablaze on the passenger side of an orange 2015 Hyundai. The car would turn out to belong to the brother of the dead man, Mustafa Connelly. He had been shot twice in the back.
Crime scene techs found both 9mm and .45-caliber shell casings.
The man’s body had been set on fire to conceal evidence, investigators said.
By examining texting records, detectives learned that McGee wanted to set up a robbery. Connelly was known as a “Jack Boy,” one who liked to commit robberies, according to the arrest affidavit.
Crime scene investigators also found a palm print on the passenger side of the car belonging to McGee.
More research turned up records from the Department of Corrections that McGee was a gang member, and allegedly set other murder victims on fire, once burning himself, according to the arrest affidavit. That case is still under investigation.
He was released from prison in 2020 after serving eight years for attempted first-degree murder, being a felon in possession of ammo, carrying a concealed firearm, and multiple drug charges.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Arrest made in shooting death case where the body was set on fire
