William Gregory Powell Jr., 18, a White/Caucasian male from White Springs, Florida, was found dead on May 4, 2025, inside his submerged Dodge Durango at Way Side Park on the Suwannee River. Deputies and divers recovered the vehicle after it was driven off the boat ramp, ending a frantic early-morning search that began when he didn’t make it home. Within hours, investigators identified the victim as William Powell Jr., 18, and opened a homicide investigation.
According to court records summarized by investigators, the final hours of William Powell Jr., 18, unfolded at the edge of a friend’s yard in White Springs, where he had been hanging out with two other 18-year-olds, Cameron Lee Fine and Josh Tobias Daniel. An argument erupted between William Powell Jr., 18, and Fine. The documents say Fine fired a handgun—allegedly taken earlier that day from a woman Daniel lives with—striking William Powell Jr., 18. Fine and Daniel then lifted him into the back of the Durango, drove to Way Side Park, and left the SUV to sink into the river before running from the ramp to meet a relative who picked them up. Back at a residence, the two burned their bloody clothes, according to the records.
Arrests came swiftly. Within roughly 13 hours of the killing being discovered on May 4, deputies arrested both suspects. Fine was booked on a murder charge while Daniel was charged as an accessory; both also faced felony counts related to evidence tampering. State and county authorities emphasized the speed of the joint investigation, and booking records show Daniel was jailed that same day on an evidence-destroying charge.
Officials noted a slight discrepancy in timing—state investigators said the homicide occurred on Saturday, May 3, while the victim was found on Sunday, May 4—but the narrative of events remained consistent: a dispute among acquaintances, a fatal gunshot, and a hurried attempt to hide what happened by submerging the victim’s vehicle and burning clothing. The case galvanized the small community of White Springs, where family obituaries and memorial pages described William Powell Jr., 18, as a lifelong local, and relatives gathered seeking justice as the criminal proceedings against Fine and Daniel moved forward.
