CRESCENT CITY, Fla. – Putnam County deputies confirm that a 29-year-old picked up not long after Trkey Nixon was shot to death on Sunday afternoon near the Crescent City police station was charged with murder.
Col. Joseph Wells said the Sheriff’s Office and the Crescent City Police Department were called about 1 p.m. to a shooting in a vacant lot near Main Street and Florida Avenue, which is about a block away from the Police Department building on Summit Street.
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Authorities said Ahmad Williams, 29, who had known the victim since childhood, was taken into custody in Pomona Park -- about 5 to 6 miles north of Crescent City -- shortly after the shooting. Williams was booked into the Putnam County jail on a first-degree murder charge just after midnight.
On Jan. 24, Williams was indicted for first-degree murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a violent career criminal.
CRESCENT CITY HOMICIDE - one person killed in shooting today at vacant lot near Main Street and Florida Avenue. Shooting occurred about 1pm. Suspect now in custody. pic.twitter.com/RpmWo6L0Mh
— Putnam County (Fla.) SO (@PutnamCountySO) January 5, 2020
Crescent City Police Chief Mark Carman said this was the first homicide in the city in eight years.
"It’s heartbreaking. Our heart goes out, our heartfelt feelings to the family, to the whole entire Crescent City. It’s nerve-wracking to a small city,” said Carman.
Because Crescent City is such a small jurisdiction, the chief asked the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to take over as the lead investigative agency. Both departments are still piecing together what led up to the incident.
Shortly after the shooting, deputies took a man into custody in nearby Pomona Park.
According to the chief, the man initially got into a car after the shooting and tried to get away, but later changed his mind.
″We got a call from a female saying that the person of interest was gonna go ahead and meet us at the Pomona Park fire station and he’s willing to turn himself in," said Carman.
The family did not wish to speak on camera, but a man driving by said Nixon was his nephew and described the 28-year-old as very outgoing.
He said Nixon was well-known in this area where he grew up and is a father who leaves behind young children.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement responded to help process the crime scene.