Pagan charged with vehicular homicide in September 15 hit-and-run fatality at Butler Plaza

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jaileen Damaris Pagan, 23, has been charged with vehicular homicide, hit and run, driving without a valid license, and driving an unregistered vehicle in connection with the death of a pedestrian in a Butler Plaza parking lot on September 15.

Gainesville Police Department (GPD) asked the public to watch for a green Hyundai Sonata in connection with the incident, and Pagan was arrested on September 20 for a petit theft at the Butler Plaza Walmart that happened just before the hit-and-run fatality. The arrest report stated that she drove away from the theft incident in a green Hyundai with the same tag number as the one sought by GPD.

Pagan’s arrest report alleges that she and a co-defendant entered Walmart at about 2:45 p.m. on September 15, then Pagan put seven items with a value of $33.32 in her backpack and walked out without paying. The co-defendant allegedly put 17 cans of baked beans in her cart and then paid for 10 of them via self-checkout. A Loss Prevention Officer confronted the two women and told them to stop, but Pagan reportedly “ignored the witness and hurried to her vehicle.” The co-defendant allegedly said she paid for the baked beans, but when the employee said she didn’t pay for all of them, she said, “Oh, well, too bad,” with a smirk.

The Loss Prevention Officer reported that Pagan got into the driver’s seat of the Hyundai, and the co-defendant got into the passenger seat, and then they drove away.

A sworn complaint for petit theft has been filed against the co-defendant, Malaka Davis, but no warrant has been issued for her arrest. It is unknown whether she was in the car at the time of the hit-and-run.

Pagan was arrested on June 16 after allegedly shooting at two people; Judge Walter Green set bail at $22,000 ($5,000 for each charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, $10,000 for possession of a controlled substance, and $2,000 for battery), and she was released on bail. The next day, she was re-arrested for allegedly violating her pre-trial release conditions by tagging the victim on Facebook, Judge Mark Moseley set bail at $5,000, and she was again released on bail.

On July 12, prosecutors requested that her bond be revoked because she had continued to try to contact the victim, and formal charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting from a vehicle, drug possession, and battery were filed on July 13. Her bond was revoked on July 14, and a warrant for her arrest was issued on July 27. Another warrant for her arrest was issued on September 6 after she failed to appear at hearings in her two pending cases.

A sworn complaint was filed against Pagan on September 7, alleging that she held a gun to a victim’s head on September 4. A second sworn complaint was filed on the same date, alleging that Pagan continued to stalk the victim in the shooting case.

GPD announced on Facebook on September 30 that the green Hyundai Sonata had been located.

Pagan has been held without bond since the September 20 arrest. She has not yet had a first appearance before a judge on the new charges.

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.