Live Oak man arrested for home invasion robbery, kidnapping, and aggravated battery in a series of crimes against convenience store owners and employees

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Demoundre Jahtavin Evans, 24, was arrested yesterday and charged with 20 felonies associated with at least four incidents of home invasion robbery, kidnapping, and robbery that targeted convenience store owners and employees. Calvin Souter of Lake City was previously arrested in the same case, and Jeremiah Gibson of Jasper was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison after entering a plea of nolo contendere to racketeering in the same case; all the other charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.

At about 10:50 p.m. on January 15, 2024, the three defendants allegedly confronted an employee of the Chevron at 1425 SE Hawthorne Road as he was closing the store; the defendants were reportedly armed, and the victim was reportedly punched in the face and then hit in the back of the head with a gun, leaving him unconscious. The defendants allegedly took $6,600 in store deposits and the victim’s wallet from his vehicle.

At about 10:12 p.m. on January 25, the same victim reported that he heard a knock on his door after arriving at his home, and the person outside said, “Sheriff’s Office.” The victim said he felt uneasy and did not answer the door, but he reviewed his video surveillance and saw three masked people with guns and said he believed they were the same ones who had robbed him; he said he believed he was followed from the store to his home.

Gainesville Police Department investigators saw a vehicle following the victim’s vehicle on traffic cameras and used the tag number to connect the vehicle to Gibson, who was previously issued a traffic citation in Hamilton County while driving the vehicle. The same vehicle could be seen in the victim’s neighborhood at the same time the victim called 911, and the same vehicle was captured on traffic cameras near the Chevron on January 15.

At about 12:30 a.m. on January 26, the same vehicle was captured on video surveillance cameras at the Circle K at 20 NE Waldo Road. Two men entered the store, and one was wearing a hoodie that matched one of the suspects’ clothing in the surveillance video from the victim’s residence; that suspect was identified as Gibson, and that, along with law enforcement databases and social media posts, led investigators to Evans.

At about 1:04 a.m. on January 26, the three defendants allegedly followed two employees home from Food Max at 1304 E. University Avenue to their apartment. As the two employees were entering their apartment, Souter allegedly shoved one of them to the ground and forced his way into the apartment. There were eight family members inside the apartment, including three children under the age of 10.

The defendants allegedly held the family at gunpoint and demanded money; one of them allegedly put the barrel of his gun to a victim’s head and told her he would shoot her if she moved.

Two of the defendants allegedly went upstairs and brought down one adult victim while keeping three children in their beds. One victim was reportedly found hiding in a bathroom with a small child, and the defendants allegedly forced her to show them her phone to prove she had not called 911. One of the defendants allegedly put a gun to the small child’s head and demanded money.

The victims were reportedly robbed of the store’s closing deposits (about $10,000), about $2,000 cash from their pockets, a wallet, and a cell phone. All the victims’ cell phones were reportedly collected and turned off so they could not call for help.

At about 2:10 a.m. on January 30, three suspects tried to break the window of the first victim’s residence with a brick. When they were unsuccessful, two of them shot at the home, hitting the exterior of the home. The incident was captured on video surveillance, and the clothing worn by the three suspects matched the clothing worn by the suspects in the January 25 incident.

Gainesville Police Department officers believe that the robberies are connected with similar robberies of business owners in nearby counties that appear to target specific minorities. An incident in Alachua led to the identification of Souter, and a K-9 track after an armed robbery in Columbia County led to the arrest of Gibson on February 3; the vehicle was also seized on that date.

Post Miranda, Gibson reportedly admitted to all of the incidents and said he believed Evans had shot at the victim’s house; he reportedly identified Evans and Souter in a photo line-up and identified himself and the other two defendants in still photos from video surveillance of the Gainesville robberies.

Using that information, a GPD investigator identified the two suspects who shot at the victim’s house as Evans and Souter.

A search of the vehicle reportedly produced the first victim’s wallet, which contained Evans’ driver’s license. Souter’s driver’s license was also reportedly found in the vehicle, along with gloves and items of clothing and face masks that matched those seen in surveillance videos.

Evans has been charged with six counts of kidnapping, eight counts of home invasion robbery, obstructing justice, two counts of armed burglary of a dwelling, armed robbery, shooting a firearm into a dwelling, and aggravated battery. He has no criminal convictions but has a pending felony case in Suwannee County on charges of kidnapping, burglary, and robbery. Judge Susan Miller-Jones 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.