Sheriff’s deputies in Marion County said Wednesday they have arrested another man in what they described as a robbery during a marijuana purchase that ended in gunfire on a hiking trail. Detectives said the robbery planning and aftermath were openly discussed in incriminating Snapchat messages.
Jeovanni Alexis “Geo” Pulgarin, 22, of Ocala was arrested Monday and accused of second-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm in the fatal shooting on Sept. 12 at the Greenway Trailhead Park. Deputies announced his arrest Wednesday in the case.
The department identified the dead man in the shooting as Cameron Cole Dalzell, 18, whose body was found near a pavilion in the parking lot. A loaded pistol was found nearby. Investigators said Dalzell was plotting to rob two men during a marijuana purchase when the shooting started.
Another man, Jordan Matthew Neal, 19, turned himself in and told deputies that Pulgarin had offered to pay him $1,000 to help Dalzell rob two men sitting in an SUV during a drug purchase. Neal was booked into the Marion County Jail on Sept. 13 on charges of second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm, according to county jail records. His bond was set at $100,000.
In a twist, investigators obtained records from Pulgarin’s Snapchat account, which they said laid out the robbery plan and included discussions about the aftermath of the shooting.
“What’s gonna happen is, you’re gonna put the weed in the trash bag, you’re gonna put the gun on him, you’re not gonna stop looking at him, you’re gonna open the door while still looking at him, and then you’re gonna run into the trails and into the woods,” Pulgarin wrote in Snapchat, according to court records. “Then, we’re gonna come pick you up.”
Deputies said the plan turned violent when Dalzell and another person in the SUV, whom authorities have not yet publicly identified, began firing. Authorities found the SUV and searched it Sept. 14, and found three handguns and at least two spent bullet casings inside.
After the shootings, Pulgarin blamed Dalzell for the violence in his Snapchat messages, deputies said. “Cameron wanted to be hard-headed and go in straight in with the gun, and that’s why he got gunned down,” Pulgarin wrote, according to court records.
Deputies said Pulgarin was hiding in the woods during the robbery, but they were charging him with second-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm because they said Pulgarin formulated the robbery plot and provided a firearm to Neal and Dalzell.
Pulgarin remains in the jail on a bond of $137,000, deputies said.
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