17-year-old charged as adult with attempted homicide

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Zion Me’kel Newkirk, 17, has been charged as an adult with attempted second-degree homicide after being identified as the suspect who allegedly shot a 21-year-old man multiple times on November 7 in Holly Heights.

At about 2:03 a.m. on November 7, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an apartment in the 700 block of SW 70th Terrace and found the victim in front of the apartment building with multiple gunshot wounds. The occupant of a nearby apartment had called 911 to report that the victim showed up at the door and said, “They shot me.” Deputies provided life-saving measures until EMS arrived to transport the victim to a local hospital.

Deputies reportedly found a blood trail from the victim’s location to another apartment in the same building. The door of that apartment was ajar, and deputies reported finding blood inside the apartment and several spent shell casings; no other victims were located, and deputies were unable to contact the renter of the apartment at the time. They secured the apartment and obtained a search warrant; no firearm was found in the resulting search.

Deputies later conducted interviews with the renter and other occupants of that apartment, who reportedly said they had left prior to the shooting, and only Newkirk, the victim, and an 18-year-old woman were in the apartment when they left.

The victim was reportedly in a medically-induced coma for about a week, and deputies interviewed him on November 13. The victim reportedly identified Newkirk as the person who had shot him.

The victim reportedly said he had been staying with one of the occupants of the apartment for some time and was sitting in a bedroom when Newkirk walked in, brandished a gun, and told him to get out of the apartment. The victim said he questioned the request and Newkirk responded, “You already know what timing I’m on” and shot him. The victim said Newkirk kept shooting at him while he ran from the apartment, and he went to the other apartment to get help for his injuries.

Newkirk has been charged as an adult with attempted second-degree homicide. He has no criminal history, and Judge Jonathan Ramsey ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

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.