ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said they have made 75 gang-related arrests since late July in efforts to crack down on increasing violence.
One of the most recent arrests happened Wednesday afternoon when deputies arrested 19-year-old Joshua Holder.
According to his arrest warrant, Holder was the driver in a shooting at the Mall at Millenia on Oct. 8.
Orlando police announced on Thursday the weapon was fired by 19-year-old Trey’von Graham, and they’re searching for a third suspect.
They confirmed all three of them are documented members of a street gang called 438, and they were aiming for 20-year-old Jacquavius Smith, known in rap music circles as Glokk9.
Smith’s handle on social media includes a reference to AFNF.
“He is associated with the All Family No Friends gang. That would be him,” said Lt. Paul Volkerson with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Volkerson is part of OCSO’s Violent Crime Unit.
He said AFNF – also known as The Army – and 438 are two of the most violent gangs in Orange County right now.
He said Javarri Walker, 20, is the biggest name associated with 438 – better known on the music scene and social media as Hotboii438.
“Based on their criminal history I would say both of them are dangerous and both of them have been involved in violent crimes,” Volkerson said.
Attorneys for both Smith and Walker deny their clients are part of a gang.
“Glokk9 is neither the leader nor a member of a street gang. He has had no involvement in any of the shootings other than being shot at,” attorney David Bigney wrote in an email to News 6.
“Javarri Walker is not now nor has he ever been a gang member,” wrote his attorney Raven Liberty. "438 is also not a gang, it is a state road that runs through the Pine Hills Community where Mr. Walker grew up. Young black men residing in the same zip code does not equate to a gang, nor does it justify the Orange County Sheriffs Department’s fabrication of such, in an effort to mislead the public and deflect from the murder of Salaythis Melvin, by the inept hands of one of their deputies. The only articles that should be mentioning Javarri Walker a/k/a Hotboii are ones that are celebrating his success and soon to be released debut album title “Double00baby”, rather than the recent onslaught of stories assassinating his character and reputation.
“Lastly to address Mr. Walker’s Instagram handle, Hotboi438. The use of the 438 serves to remind him of where he started at, and also as motivation for all the other young black youth similarly situated, and struggling to see a light at the end of the tunnel. With today’s current environment of police brutality; discrimination and poverty, to many youth in the Pine Hill community, much like other communities in the United States, see no end to the vicious cycle they were born into. However, Hotboii438 is living proof that hard work and dedication pay off,” she wrote.
Volkerson said many of the incidents that have happened in Orange County since April involved high-powered weapons.
“Those will penetrate bulletproof vests of law-enforcement officers, those will penetrate walls of houses. We’ve had shootings with rounds go right through the walls, and through the walls of these houses,” he said.
He said one of those houses was on Drexel Avenue on Sept. 22.
That’s when he said a gang-related drive-by shooting claimed the life of three-year-old Daquane Felix.
Since then, Volkerson said deputies have doubled down to prevent and to end the violence.
“There’s information that’s out there,” said Volkerson. “There are witnesses out there that haven’t come forward. We know it. We desperately need them to come forward. They can provide key pieces to the puzzle to solve these crimes, and put those people responsible behind bars.”
If you have information to share, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477 (TIPS). You can remain anonymous.