FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Two men have been charged in a 2019 double shooting in Palm Coast that left a 25-year-old man dead, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly announced Friday.
He called the attack a “targeted hit” but declined to provide further details about a possible motive, saying he didn’t want to interfere with the grand jury proceedings.
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Deon O’Neal Jenkins and another man were shot about 3:30 a.m. Oct. 12, 2019, while sitting in a car at the Circle K Gas Station at Belle Terre Boulevard and Palm Coast Parkway.
A man who took steps to conceal his identity fired 16 rounds at the two victims in less than four seconds before running off, Staly said. The driver of the vehicle ran from the area with a gunshot wound and called 911. Jenkins, who was the passenger in the vehicle, died in the car moments later before paramedics could reach him.
After an investigation spanning 20 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies and over 2,000 hours of investigative work, the shooter was identified as 26-year-old Marcus Avery Chamblin and the getaway driver as 26-year-old Derrius Braxton Bauer, Staly said.
“To the family, we never stopped working to obtain justice for your son, your brother, your loved one,” he said. “We hope these arrests today help Deon’s parents and family, knowing the people involved are being brought to justice.”
Jenkins’ family members were present at the announcement Friday but declined to comment on the arrests or the case.
Staly called it the most extensive investigation in modern Flagler County Sheriff’s Office history.
Both men were taken into custody Thursday. Chamblin is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle. He was detained while in prison at the Gulf Correctional Facility where he was just days from being released.
Bauer was charged with principal to first-degree murder, principal to second-degree attempted murder and principal to shooting into an occupied vehicle. He was arrested in Jacksonville and booked into the Duval County jail.
Both men will be brought to Flagler County to face their charges and are being held under no bond.
“This case is a testament to the lengths we will go to build a strong case, examine all the evidence, and take the time to bring justice for the victim and their family,” Staly said. “We’d like to thank the many agencies throughout the country that assisted with this case and I commend our entire team for bringing this difficult case to conclusion. Let this be a warning to criminals that law enforcement today knows no boundaries and we will always work with our partners, like they did for us, across the country to solve crime and arrest offenders no matter how long it takes.”
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office detectives were assisted in this investigation by the: the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s - Daytona Beach Field Office and the FBI’s Newport News Field Office and the FBI’s Operational Technology Division located in Quantico, Virginia; the 7th Circuit State Attorney’s Office Homicide Investigations Unit; the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives; the Clay County Sheriff’s Office; the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office; the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office; the Newport News, Virginia Police Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Los Angeles Police Department; the Walterboro, South Carolina Police Department; the Florida Department of Corrections; the Miami Dade Police Department; the Florida Department of Inspector General; and the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office.