LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A Leesburg man who deputies said has ties with a national gang was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on Sunday.
Darion McGee, 30, is now behind bars in connection with the December 2021 killing of Mustafa Connelly. Lt. Fred Jones with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said detectives conducted an extensive investigation before executing an arrest warrant.
“They interviewed numerous people, you know, from those who call 911 to those who were able to provide video of the scene on Dec. 17,” Jones said. “When we finally had enough probable cause to arrest them, then it became a matter of finding him, and that’s when we utilize the U.S. Marshals Service.”
According to the arrest affidavit, McGee lured Connelly to an area on Veech Road in Leesburg known as “The Bottoms.”
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Deputies said they believe McGee brought Connelly there to conduct a robbery, during which the victim was shot.
Investigators said Connelly’s body was then found burning next to an orange Hyundai.
“This is not somebody that is new to this,” Jones said. “I am glad through the due diligence of detectives that we have gotten him off the streets.”
While Connelly’s body was found burning, McGee is not facing arson charges in connection to this case.
Mcgee, however, faces arson charges in a separate case from March 2021 in which 20-year-old Jermonick Bernard Luther Jr. was found burned in the back of an SUV in Groveland.
“Neither one of those cases are fully done yet,” Jones said. “And so, we’re still looking at charges. But the important thing is, was that we had enough probable cause to get him off the streets on the second-degree murder charge, and it continues from there.”
Jones said McGee is a dangerous person, with ties to Nine Trey, a gang within The Bloods who, according to investigators, act as “enforcers.”
“It’s unknown if that gang sits here in Lake County, you know, it’s one of those things that this is a national gang. But the fact that he belongs to something like that, so violent is something too scary,” Jones said.
It is important to note that McGee is not facing a murder charge in connection to the March 2021 death of Jermonick Bernard Luther Jr.
McGee does have a bond set at $25,000 for his second-degree murder charge but other charges listed have no bond.
Officials said he will not be getting out of jail any time soon.
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