Florida man gets life sentence for 2024 Ocala apartment shooting

Blayze Jurien White was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm on June 18 and was immediately sentenced to life in prison for the 2024 killing of Derrick Lysander Brown Jr. The Marion County jury’s verdict ended the case nearly two years after Brown, 24, was shot in the 2800 block of NE 8th Terrace in Ocala at about 11:25 p.m. on June 23, 2024. White was 23 at the time of the verdict, and the state did not seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors built the case around a chain of physical evidence and digital records that linked the shooting scene to White. Investigators recovered spent shell casings, shoe prints and tire treads from the apartment area, while surveillance footage and license-plate-reader data pointed to a Hyundai Elantra that sped away after the gunfire. Police later determined White had rented the car through Turo, and GPS data from the vehicle helped detectives secure a search warrant at another residence.

Inside that residence, investigators found a firearm that matched the caliber of the casings and bullets recovered at the apartment. Brown, known to family and friends as DJ, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head when officers arrived. The jury also watched a recording of White’s interview with a detective investigating the shooting death.

Prosecutors tied the killing to a rivalry between White’s gang and a local gang loosely connected to Brown, and investigators believed multiple people helped plan the attack. Police arrested White, Fredrick Bernard Lowe and Zayshawn Lee Lamar Webb in the case, and a grand jury indicted all three in February 2025. White had already been serving a 60-year prison term for a probation violation when the jury returned its verdict; Webb’s and Lowe’s cases remain pending.

Bill Gladson, the Fifth Judicial Circuit state attorney, said, “This verdict and sentence reflect the relentless efforts of law enforcement, our prosecution team, and all those committed to seeking justice for Derrick and the Brown family.”