Gainesville man arrested for murder of man who gave him a place to stay

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Zaytarious Joequan Chisolm, 23, has been charged with homicide and grand theft of a motor vehicle and firearm after allegedly shooting a man who had given him a place to stay with the victim’s gun and then driving away in the victim’s car.

On April 13, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Detective was called out to a death investigation at Reflections Apartments (205 SW 75th Street). The victim, a 21-year-old male, had been shot in the forehead, and the detective discovered that the victim’s pistol and vehicle were missing.

The victim’s car had been found abandoned on April 12 in a ditch at NE 25th Street and NE 4th Avenue, and Gainesville Police Department had the vehicle towed when they were unable to contact the owner of the vehicle.

The missing handgun was a custom chocolate brown Glock 47, and detectives found photos of the victim with the gun a few days before the incident that showed the serial number.

A pizza box found at the victim’s apartment had a receipt showing that it was ordered at 8:18 p.m. on April 10 and was delivered to the victim’s apartment. Detectives found that the pizza was ordered by someone who said “Zay” told them to order it and have it delivered to the victim’s apartment.

A witness told the detective that a black male, later identified as Chisolm, had been sleeping on the victim’s couch for about a week. The witness positively identified Chisolm in a photo line-up and said Chisolm had loaded items from the victim’s apartment into a car on the night of April 10.

The victim’s cell phone was last used at 7:40 p.m. on April 10.

Another witness said Chisolm showed up at their residence around 3 a.m. on April 11 and told the witness he woke up to find the victim pointing a gun at him; he said he wrestled the gun away from the victim and shot him once in the head, killing him. The witness said Chisolm had blood on his arm. Chisolm also reportedly told the witness he had stolen the victim’s car and ditched it and needed to hide the handgun; the witness said the handgun was chocolate brown. Later that day, Chisolm reportedly told the witness he was worried he had left something in the car that could link him to the homicide.

A search warrant to TextNow produced text messages for a phone number used by Chisolm to communicate with the victim; around 1 a.m. on April 11, that number sent text messages that said “I need you” and “Kant say much but I stayed with you tonight,” an apparent attempt to establish an alibi of sleeping somewhere else. A few messages later, he asked someone to come get him and asked if he could stay with that person, who said he couldn’t. Chisolm reportedly responded with a message saying he “fu**ed up.”

Chisolm’s fingerprint was reportedly found on the rear passenger door of the victim’s vehicle.

On April 18, an arrest warrant was granted for charges of grand theft of a firearm, grand theft of a vehicle, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and Chisolm was arrested on that warrant on April 25 in Jacksonvile.

Post Miranda, Chisolm reportedly denied murdering the victim or stealing his firearm or vehicle. He said he stayed at the victim’s apartment between April 10 and April 13 and said the victim showed him to the door when he left on the morning of April 13. However, the detective reported that the victim was discovered deceased on April 13 and had already been dead for several days.

On May 3, Chisolm was charged with homicide. Chisolm has four felony convictions (non-violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in July 2024. In 2022, he was arrested during an investigation of shots fired at Southwood Apartments and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a short-barreled rifle, firing a weapon into a dwelling, and introducing a bullet into a detention facility. He entered a plea of nolo contendere to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and was sentenced to two years in state prison with an agreement that the rest of the charges would be dropped.

Chisolm is being held on $225,000 bail on the original three charges and without bail on the homicide charge 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.