A man facing charges for attempting a drive-by shooting in Gainesville entered a plea of no contest on Wednesday in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.
On Oct. 23, 2023, Gainesville police said Devin Terrell Freeman, 23, attempted to lure a coworker to his car to fight outside of the Cascades apartment complex in Southeast Gainesville.
When the coworker came outside of the apartment to fight about a prior disagreement, Freeman returned to his car and fired multiple bullets, missing the victim, before speeding away from the scene, according to a police report.
The initial disagreement happened two days before the shooting, on Oct. 21, 2023, when Freeman claimed to be a part of “The Crips,” a street gang alliance. His colleague disagreed. Both men then engaged in a fistfight at a local golf course where they worked.
A day after the shooting, Gainesville police identified Freeman during a traffic stop and placed him under arrest for having a firearm in plain sight inside the vehicle.
Freeman was charged with attempted felony murder and discharging a firearm in public.
Judge Phillip A. Pena sentenced Freeman to 10 years in prison during a change of plea hearing on Wednesday morning, with him agreeing to plead no contest to both charges.
Each charge carries a 10-year sentence, and they will be served concurrently.
During the hearing, Pena said the consequences for Freeman could have been more severe.
“You’re incredibly fortunate,” said Pena. “The decision that you made could have led to a completely different circumstance for you, and more importantly to somebody else.”
Two rounds and fragments hit the apartment building behind where the victim was standing, but no one was injured.
The shooting occurred in a highly populated area, bordering the University of Florida’s campus, 600 feet away from the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority house.
Outside of a reckless boating misdemeanor, Freeman had no previous criminal record to date.
Freeman made no comments to the judge during the hearing, but was emotional when the judge asked him to identify his family in attendance.
Freeman glanced back and pointed to his mother, step-mother, brother, and father–all in the courtroom. As his father left the hearing, he wiped a tear from under his glasses with a cloth.
“Don’t let this define the rest of your life,” Pena advised.
Freeman has been held at Alachua County Jail for 177 days on a $2.1 million bond. In November, he was moved to no bond, counting as time served in his ten-year sentence.