MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) says a grand jury indicted a man and woman for the murder of 17-year-old Lezarius Graham.
MCSO says on Wednesday, Nov. 15, the grand jury indicted 23-year-old Dexavion Brown for first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and tampering with an electronic monitoring device. They say 19-year-old Leilani Degree was also indicted for first degree murder and grand theft.
Deputies say this stems from a case back on June 7, 2023, when they responded around 7:15 p.m. to the 2100 block of NW 43rd Street for a shooting call.
They say when the arrived at the scene, they identified the shooting victim as Lezarius Graham.
Detectives say it was all over an attempted drug deal. MCSO says Graham went to meet up with Leilani to apparently sell her marijuana. When she arrived, she showed up with Brown hiding in the trunk, according to deputies.
According to a Facebook post shared by MCSO, when Graham got into the car, Brown folded down the backseat and shot Graham twice.
Deputies say Leilani told them the victim’s murder was gang-related and Brown had told her there was ‘money on his (Lezarius’) name.’ Detectives say they also discovered that two days before the incident, she stole the car involved in the shooting from a party in Ocala.
According to the sheriff’s office, since August 3 of this year, Leilani has been at the Marion County Jail for grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery, and providing false identification to a law enforcement officer. She has now been charged with first degree murder with a firearm for the death of Graham.
READ: Citrus County Sheriff’s Office warns of scam offering 50% off your monthly internet/cable bill
Brown has been held at the Lake County Jail on no bond for unrelated charges of two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm and two counts of robbery with a firearm. The sheriff’s office says he will be indicted once he is transported to the Marion County Jail.