Gainesville Man’s Attempted Murder Charge Ends in Ten-year Sentence

A man charged with attempted a drive-by shooting in Gainesville pleaded no pleas on Wednesday, April 17, in return for a 10-year jail sentence. Devin Terrell Freeman, 23, allegedly attempted to lure a coworker to his car to fight outside the Cascades apartment complex in Southeast Gainesville on October 23, 2023.

When the coworker approached the residence to argue over a previous disagreement, Freeman returned to his car and fired multiple bullets, missing the victim, before speeding away, according to a police report.

The initial quarrel occurred two days before the shooting, on October 21, 2023, when Freeman claimed to be a member of “The Crips,” a street gang organization. His colleague disagreed. Both men then got into a fistfight at a golf course where they worked.

A day after the incident, Gainesville police stopped Freeman and arrested him for having a handgun in plain sight inside the vehicle.

Freeman faces charges of attempted felony murder and public firearm discharge.

Freeman was sentenced to ten years in jail by Judge Phillip A. Pena during a change of plea hearing on Wednesday morning, after agreeing to plead no contest to both charges.

Each charge carries a ten-year sentence, which will be served concurrently.

During the hearing, Pena stated that the penalties for Freeman could have been more severe.

“You’re incredibly fortunate,” Pena added. “The decision that you made could have led to a completely different circumstance for you, and more importantly to somebody else.” Two shots and pieces struck the apartment building behind where the victim was standing, but no one was hurt.

The incident happened in a densely populated location near the University of Florida campus, 600 feet from the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority home.

Aside from a reckless boating offense, Freeman has no previous criminal record. Throughout the hearing, Freeman made no comments to the judge, but he became emotional when the judge asked him to name his family members who were there.

Freeman looked back and pointed to his mother, stepmother, brother, and father, all of whom were there in court. As his father exited the hearing, he wiped a tear from beneath his glasses with a handkerchief.

“Don’t let this define the rest of your life,” Pena said.

Freeman has been imprisoned in the Alachua County Jail for 177 days on a $2.1 million bond. In November, he was moved to no bond, which counts as time served on his ten-year sentence.