13-year-old charged as adult with first-degree murder for Tiger Bay shooting death in April

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ke’mani Narda Lee Hill, 13, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder, armed robbery, shooting into an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by a minor, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Hill was reportedly wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the shooting.

At about 11:42 a.m. on April 19, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Officers responded to Tiger Bay Apartments (484 SE 24th Dr.) and found a male victim deceased inside his vehicle.

Surveillance video from the complex reportedly showed the victim arriving and parking near Building 4. About two minutes later, the vehicle rapidly reversed, swerved, and crashed into the leasing office.

A witness who was in the victim’s vehicle said the victim was on the phone with someone when he arrived at the complex; after he parked, several black juveniles walked up to the driver’s side window, then one of the juveniles snatched a bag of marijuana from the victim’s lap and ran. When the victim began backing out of the parking space, the witness said, another juvenile stuck a gun through the window, then the witness heard a gunshot. The victim drove away quickly and then crashed into the building, and the witness said she noticed at that time that the victim had been shot.

A GPD detective searched the victim’s phone and reportedly found phone calls and text messages, setting up a marijuana sale, to a phone number that was found to be registered to a relative of Zion James, 14, Hill’s co-defendant; James has also been charged as an adult with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, tampering with evidence, distributing a controlled substance, and using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.

Officers made contact with James, who denied calling or texting the victim. However, according to the sworn complaint filed against Hill, James eventually provided information that led to the identification of Hill as the shooter. Detectives also learned that the shooter was currently on a juvenile ankle monitor.

Using the juvenile ankle monitor system, detectives reportedly confirmed that Hill was in the area of the shooting at the time of the incident.

A detective obtained a search warrant for James’ phone and reportedly recovered deleted phone calls and text messages between James and the victim. The phone also reportedly showed that James had attempted several CashApp transactions to the victim in the seconds before the victim was shot. The location information on the phone reportedly placed James at the apartment complex at the time of the shooting.

Another witness reportedly said he and James had met up with Hill before the shooting and that James and Hill intended to rob the victim of marijuana. The witness reportedly said that James used a “Cash App glitch” (pretending to send a payment while the phone is in airplane mode) to pretend to pay the victim, then James allegedly snatched a small bag of marijuana from the victim and ran. The witness said that after James grabbed the marijuana, he saw the victim smile and begin to drive away, but then Hill allegedly pulled out a small gun and shot at the victim.

The witness said he and Hill fled to Hill’s girlfriend’s apartment after the shooting (Kiyanah Stephens, 17, who is described as Hill’s girlfriend in the sworn complaint filed against her, has been charged as an adult with perjury in this case), and detectives reportedly obtained video from a camera inside Stephens’ apartment building that showed Hill and this witness next to Stephens’ apartment “several seconds after the homicide.”

A search warrant was obtained for Hill’s Instagram account, and Hill reportedly sent a message to Stephens at 11:43 a.m. (one minute after the homicide) that said, “I shot him man. Unlock the door… Bro pls. Cover do something. Crack it just take the gun.” The time stamp of the message reportedly aligns with the video showing Hill next to Stephens’ apartment.

Hill’s Instagram account also reportedly included “numerous images” of Hill with a firearm; the firearm reportedly matches the description of the firearm provided by witnesses after the Tiger Bay homicide.

Hill has juvenile convictions in 2023 and 2024. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered her held without bail on three of the counts, pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial, and she set bail at $150,000 on each of the other two counts.

Charges and bail amounts:

• First-degree murder (capital felony) – no bond
• Armed robbery (first-degree felony) – no bond
• Conspiracy to commit armed robbery (first-degree felony) – no bond
• Shooting into an occupied vehicle (second-degree felony) – $150,000
• Possession of a firearm by a minor (first-degree misdemeanor) – $150,000

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.