Arrest made in downtown homicide

Press release from Gainesville Police Department

In one week our City experienced two separate shootings that resulted in the death of two victims and injury to another. The Gainesville Police Department would like to express our condolences to the friends and family of the victims. Two murders in one week may have caused citizens to feel shock and fear. We want to reassure everyone that our City is safe. As a result of the diligent efforts of our law enforcement personnel, arrests in both cases have been made.

In the early-morning hours of Thursday, March 12, 2020, the Gainesville Police Department developed significant intelligence regarding the March 10th, 2020, homicide that occurred in the parking lot of 222 NE 1st St. at roughly 3:15 a.m. After corroborating the information collected through multiple resources and further confirming the suspect’s identity, the Gainesville Police Department Detectives applied for and successfully obtained an arrest warrant for Gareth Emil Fay, 22, of northwest Gainesville.

For almost seven hours, the Gainesville Police Department surveilled Fay’s last known whereabouts near the town of La Crosse and then, with substantial assistance from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff’s Deputies were able to contact and arrest Fay with no resistance. A search warrant was applied for and granted on the property where Fay was found.

Gainesville Police Department Detectives are still actively investigating this case, including following up on any and all leads and collecting and evaluating evidence. We are asking any members of the public who have any knowledge or know of any evidence related to this incident to contact the Alachua County Crime Stoppers at 352-372-7867, www.stopcrime.tv, or GPD Detective Jon Rappa at 352-393-7684.

Fay’s arrest represents the second homicide suspect arrest the Gainesville Police Department and its law enforcement partners have produced in the past 48 hours. On Tuesday, March 10th, 2020, Demetrius Aponcedeleon Hardy, Jr., 19, was arrested by members of the US Marshall Fugitive Task Force on the Gainesville Police Department’s charges of Murder, Attempted Murder, and Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon, for a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, March 6, 2020, at 100 NW 1st Street. As a reminder, if any members of the public have any knowledge or know of evidence related to this case, please contact the Alachua County Crime Stoppers at 352-372-7867, www.stopcrime.tv, or Detective J. Castor at 352-872-2101.