ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An 18-year-old Orlando man arrested Wednesday is accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of two men found shot months ago in Orange County, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jeremiah De’Quan Anderson faces two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Gregory Cotton III, 20, and Caden Adolph-Cornwall, 18, who investigators state in Anderson’s arrest warrant were both lured into the attempted robbery for Cornwall’s Glock 43. Investigators say the two men thought they were making a cannabis transaction.
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The investigation began April 24 after 911 calls came in around 4:15 p.m. about the shooting near the dead end of Creekwood Drive, just south of Declaration Drive. Cotton was found shot in this area and Cornwall was located on the ground outside of a convenience store on Winegard Road — suffering a gunshot wound to his back — not far from a Scion that had crashed into a van. Surveillance video showed Cornwall had driven the Scion into the store’s parking lot and exited through a window before it struck the other vehicle, seen also running into and exiting the store before collapsing, deputies said.
Cotton was pronounced dead the afternoon of April 25, at which point the case was reassigned to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit, the warrant states. Cornwall was pronounced dead May 7, deputies said. Deputies said Cornwall managed to hold onto his firearm during the attempted robbery, which was found on his person and had not been fired.
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The warrant for Anderson’s arrest details about five months of investigative work. Detectives — utilizing warrants for cell phone data, surveillance resources and interviews — were able to determine that Cornwall and Cotton were in the driver and passenger seats of the Scion, respectively, when they were shot at by individuals who were outside of the vehicle. Investigators were eventually able to narrow the other individuals in the car to three people, one of whom — a 17-year-old boy — was arrested April 28 after running from the passenger seat of a vehicle reported stolen out of the 3200 block of Arden Villas Boulevard.
A search of the boy’s phone turned up photographs taken of himself moments before deputies attempted to stop the car. The pictures featured two 9mm guns that the boy discarded in a bush as he ran from the traffic stop, deputies said, which were later recovered and verified to be the murder weapons.
Further detective work uncovered that Anderson, the 17-year-old and a 15-year-old boy were in the backseat of the Scion with Cornwall and Cotton before the shooting.
Detectives say another person in a second car feared he was being used as a getaway driver and even went on to express worries about their car being shot in private messages with the 17-year-old, who allegedly tried to console them by saying over text, “we taking the guns.” This individual would eventually drive away feeling uneasy and reconnect with the three at a gas station — after the shooting had occurred — to divvy out rides home, deputies said.
This individual went on to positively identify Anderson and the 15-year-old in a photo lineup, describing them as the two others who were with the 17-year-old that day, deputies said.
Anderson was located and interviewed, during which he reportedly “had a hard time articulating how the group went from sitting in a vehicle, to shots being fired,” the warrant states. This was after he initially told deputies he wasn’t there for the shooting at all.
A juvenile custody order was made Oct. 2 for the detention of the 17-year-old on two counts of first-degree murder. He was removed two days later from the Deep Creek Juvenile Detention Facility for transport to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Anderson was booked Wednesday and is being held on no bond amount, records show.
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