INTERLACHEN, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Monday announced the arrest of two men in connection with the 2019 shooting death of a 21-year-old man in Interlachen.
Decarius Dominique Howell, 21, of Ocala, and Tremonte Edward Hargrove, 26, of Ohio, were arrested last week. Hargrove was extradited from Ohio to Putnam County where he was charged with homicide and remains in the Putnam County Jail on a $105,000 bond. Howell was arrested on June 4 on the charge of homicide and remains in the Putnam County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
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On May 24, 2019, deputies responded to a traffic crash in the area of 1420 State Road 20 in Interlachen. Witnesses told deputies a man — Kody O’Hara — fell from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Detectives found a wound consistent with a gunshot and the medical examiner confirmed O’Hara’s death was a homicide with manner of death being a gunshot wound, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses told detectives the shooting happened during a “dope deal gone badly” and O’Hara was supposed to meet and sell drugs to a person named “Trey.”
The witness told detectives O’Hara met with four people in a car parked at Matchett Gas, when the vehicle began driving off while O’Hara was holding onto the door. The vehicle pulled from the parking area and onto State Road 20 at a high rate of speed, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses said they saw O’Hara fall from the vehicle.
Two other suspects are under investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said, but were not identified.
On June 1, detectives traveled to Ohio to assist the US Marshals with an arrest warrant for Hargrove.
“This investigation started with a lot of unknowns and through the diligence of our detectives, we were able to identify the criminals who murdered O’Hara in a drug deal gone bad,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said in a media release. “In every case, we continue to search and dig until truth prevails. Sometimes we are able to get results quickly, other times we have to wait until the right information presents itself, but we never stop looking.”