Elijah Johnson, 32, male, Black/African American, was shot on the night of August 12, 2025, outside the Home Suites near the I-4 and U.S. 27 interchange in Davenport, Florida. Deputies responded around 9:40 p.m. to reports of gunfire and found Elijah Johnson on the ground with a wound to his shoulder; lifesaving aid was given before he was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene: a single gunshot, a man fleeing on foot into a red sedan with another person inside, the car pulling away and then stopping nearby as the fleeing man disappeared into the woods. Investigators soon found the sedan at a McDonald’s off U.S. 27 and Sand Mine Road and took the driver into custody.
Detectives identified the suspected gunman as 29-year-old Angel Gonzalez-Morales and initially warned the public that he was “armed and dangerous.” According to the sheriff, the driver of the red sedan—identified as 39-year-old Angel Efrain-Reillo—was detained, while a manhunt continued for the alleged shooter across the wooded hotel corridor east of U.S. 27 and north of I-4.
Within two days, deputies apprehended Angel Gonzalez-Morales in the Polo Park area of Davenport. He was arrested on a warrant for second-degree murder in the shooting death of Elijah Johnson on August 12; during the arrest, deputies reported seizing a clear bag containing more than 16 grams of fentanyl, adding a first-degree felony trafficking charge to the case. Detectives continued to seek the firearm used in the killing.
Elijah Johnson’s death at age 32 was later noted by memorial records documenting those lost to gun violence in Davenport on August 12, 2025. The investigative narrative that emerged—an abrupt confrontation in a motel parking area, a flight into the dark, and a rapid, county-wide search—framed the final hours of Elijah Johnson’s life and the swift arrests that followed.
