JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Duval County grand jury on Thursday handed down first-degree murder indictments for two men, including a man arrested in the February killings of a Jacksonville couple.
Gene Thomas was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder. According to the Fourth District State Attorney’s Office, he faces additional charges of armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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According to a court motion, Thomas and his uncle, Scott Suits, went to meet with Ronald Dean over money owed and an argument ensued. Suits had a gun, and when he started picking up items in the house, he handed Thomas the gun and told him to shoot Dean and Purvis if they moved, according to the motion.
The motion states Thomas shot the couple after Dean “went for a shotgun,” according to statements Suits said to a witness who was not identified. The motion listed Suits as a co-defendant, but Suits died of a drug overdose one week after the murders.
In a separate case, a Duval County grand jury returned a murder indictment for Mack Johnson.
Mack Johnson was detained at the scene at a gas station at the corner of New Kings and Moncrief Road. Jacksonville police said Johnson pulled a gun and fired during an argument.
