Harley Van Leer, a 44-year-old male, White/Caucasian, was shot late Sunday morning on May 25, 2025, in a residential block off Northwest 7th Place in Newberry, Florida. Multiple 911 calls brought deputies to the scene within minutes; they found Harley Van Leer with a gunshot wound to the chest and began lifesaving efforts before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting location was documented around the 25700 block of NW 7th Place, a quiet neighborhood that was suddenly crowded with patrol cars and crime-scene tape as investigators worked the midday scene.
Deputies detained a 19-year-old Newberry resident, David Dwayne Martin Jr., who identified himself as the shooter. According to arrest records and subsequent reports, Martin admitted to firing the shot during an encounter on Northwest 7th Place; he was questioned at the sheriff’s office and booked on charges that included tampering with evidence and carrying a concealed weapon. Early briefings emphasized that the case did not appear to be random and that the two men knew one another.
Details in the investigative summaries describe how, after the gunfire, Martin left the immediate area and the firearm was transferred to another person before deputies recovered it. Investigators later documented the weapon as a 9mm Glock 19 Gen5 with an attached laser/strobe light and an extended 17-round magazine. Those specifics, combined with the admission from the 19-year-old, formed the backbone of the initial case file while detectives canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses and reviewed timelines from the flurry of late-morning calls.
By May 28, 2025, officials said the investigation was ongoing even after the 19-year-old’s admission, and court records at that time listed charges related to the weapon and to tampering with evidence, not a homicide count. The sheriff’s office and local outlets continued to update the public as detectives reconstructed what led up to the shot that mortally wounded Harley Van Leer and as prosecutors evaluated how to proceed.
In the days that followed, grief spilled into public view as family and friends spoke of a life abruptly cut short, posting remembrances and organizing support while urging a thorough accounting of what happened on that quiet Newberry street. Online memorials marked May 25, 2025, as the day Harley Van Leer was lost to gun violence, even as the official inquiry pressed on to determine the full scope of criminal liability and resolve unanswered questions about motive and intent.
