On September 22, 2023, a shooting incident occurred at the Jernigan Gardens Apartments in the 1400 block of Mercy Drive in Orlando, Florida. The incident involved a large group of people fighting in the courtyard, with shots being fired. Macayla Queen Patterson, a 22-year-old woman, was among those shot and was subsequently transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
During the incident, three other individuals were struck by gunfire and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A fourth person, who had also been shot, was dropped off at a hospital and later hospitalized. The Orlando Police Department responded to the scene and initiated a pursuit of a vehicle that had reportedly left the area. The pursuit ended at Old Winter Garden Road and Duncan Place, where three subjects inside the vehicle were detained, one of whom had suffered a gunshot wound and was hospitalized in critical condition.
In connection with the shooting, several arrests have been made. Delray Shundale Duncan Jr., 23, was arrested on September 22, 2023, and faces charges including improper exhibition of a weapon or firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Additionally, an 18-year-old named Christian Amari Childs was arrested in Osceola County by the Orlando Police Department’s Fugitive Investigative Unit. Childs is charged with shooting at, within or into a building, discharging a firearm on residential property, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and three counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.
Another individual, 18-year-old Gary Lee Williams III, was also apprehended by the OPD Fugitive Investigative Unit and charged with first-degree murder with a firearm in connection to this shooting. The specific details of Childs’ alleged involvement in the events of September 22, 2023, were not detailed further in the police statement.
