Man accused of murdering Gainesville teen in 2010 is serving life sentence. Report details why.
The suspect indicted in December for the murder of 16-year-old Sebastian Ochsenius in his Gainesville home in 2010 is currently serving a life sentence for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. But his run-ins with police don't stop there.
The indictment of Timothy Eugene Thomas III, 33, was announced Monday at the State Attorney's Office in Alachua County. Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey said Tuesday that they believe Thomas was looking for drugs and money, and that he was at the wrong address when he encountered the teenager in the home's kitchen.
"We don't have a confession to that type, but based on the information that we have, they were just targeting the wrong house," Forgey said. "They didn't expect anyone to be inside."
During the indictment press conference, Sheriff Emery Gainey noted Thomas' checkered past.
"This individual had 23 felony charges in the state of Florida and eight additional misdemeanors. He had been arrested by multiple agencies throughout the state of Florida," Gainey said.
He proceeded to name off law enforcement agencies in Monroe, Volusia and Orange counties.
"If you know your geography of Florida, that's literally all over central and south Florida," he said.
Gainey said Thomas had been previously arrested for multiple batteries, burglaries, robberies and attempted homicide.
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Thomas was 25 when he was arrested in October 2015 for the attempted murder of a Monroe County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) deputy.
According to the report, the Key West Police Department had put out an alert for a vehicle with a stolen tag on Oct. 24, 2015. MCSO Deputy Josh Gordon, while riding in his marked police car, noticed a vehicle matching the description while on patrol on Stock Island. Stock Island is directly east of Key West by way of the Overseas Highway.
Gordon attempted to initiate a traffic a stop, but Thomas attempted to flee, according to the report. He soon lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a stop sign.
When Gordon attempted to make contact with the driver, Thomas opened fire, striking the deputy once in the chest. Gordon was able to return fire while on the ground.
A barrage of gunshots could be heard during a video of the incident played at the State Attorney's Office during Monday's indictment announcement.
"As you can see a very, very violent incident there where he came out firing at that deputy sheriff," Gainey said. "If not for the deputy sheriff's bulletproof vest, we would have had another homicide that occurred there."
Gainey noted that the deputy was attempting to stop Thomas for a stolen tag, and had no idea that Thomas had a warrant out for a probation violation related to a robbery.
Orange County court records show Thomas was found guilty in September 2012 of robbery while armed with a weapon and drug possession. He was sentenced to four years in state prison with credit for 317 days of time served. Following his release in April 2015, he was later found to have violated his probation and an arrest warrant was issued.
Following the shooting with the Monroe County sheriff's deputy, Thomas fled the scene in the vehicle he had crashed in before eventually fleeing on foot and disappearing.
The following day, on Oct. 25, 2015, law enforcement received a tip that Thomas would be at a residence in Key West. After locating the home, police made contact by phone with Thomas, who said that he needed medical attention for gunshot wounds he sustained in the shootout.
After several hours, Thomas surrendered without incident. He had gunshot wounds to his back and shoulder, the report said. He was transported to a local hospital.
"Thomas made spontaneous utterances that police fired upon him first," the report said.
Prosecutors in the attempted homicide case said Thomas was "seeking refuge down in the Florida Keys" from his probation violation, according to the official court report.
On May 29, 2018, when asked by Judge Luis Garcia if the prosecution had anything to add before he handed down his sentence, Assistant State Attorney Colleen Dunne pointed to the same video that was shown at Thomas' Alachua County indictment announcement.
"Your Honor, just that you sat through and watched the video, and I don't need to repeat what you saw on that video. And you heard the testimony of deputies. Mr. Thomas was on a mission that day not to be apprehended," Dunne said, according to the court report.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Timothy Eugene Thomas III indicted Alachua County Gainesville homicide
