Shirley Williams, 68, was found unresponsive in her bed by a detention officer conducting routine checks at the Alachua County Jail around 11:15 p.m. Sunday. The officer performed CPR until medical staff arrived, but paramedics pronounced Williams dead approximately 30 minutes later. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and Office of Professional Standards have opened parallel investigations into the death, which officials described as standard procedure.
Sources: Mainstreet Daily News · WCJB TV20
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 17-year-old Saturday after he brought a loaded rifle to a block party at an apartment complex on Southwest 20th Avenue. The teen also had two active warrants for violating parole on a prior aggravated assault charge. A second juvenile was also taken into custody at the same event, though deputies did not detail the reason for that arrest.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Antrell Hillard, 33, of Live Oak pleaded guilty to postal robbery and assault after stealing master postal keys from mail carriers in Gainesville and Ocala in March of last year. During at least one incident, he reportedly broke a key directly off a carrier’s belt. Hillard is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21.
Sources: WCJB TV20
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed Sunday night on Northwest 6th Street near 26th Avenue, and a 53-year-old man died from stab wounds following a fight on Northwest Third Street — two separate homicides that occurred within hours of each other. Gainesville Police are actively investigating both cases and asking anyone with information to contact detectives or submit anonymous tips through Alachua County Crime Stoppers. The two deaths bring the city’s homicide count to at least five so far in 2026, already exceeding the total recorded for all of last year.
Sources: WCJB TV20 · Mainstreet Daily News
Two masked men robbed a Circle K gas station on Southeast Hawthorne Road east of Gainesville early Sunday morning, holding two employees at gunpoint and stealing cash from the register before fleeing on Southeast 43rd Street. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office released security camera images of the suspects and is asking anyone with information to contact Detective Michael Adkins.
Sources: Mainstreet Daily News · WCJB TV20
Tommy Poole, 37, of Levy County was extradited back to Florida after being arrested in Oregon in March on two counts of capital sexual battery on a child under 12. Officials said at a Monday news conference that Poole abused multiple victims over several years, with the youngest being 7 years old. One victim reported that the abuse resulted in a pregnancy.
Sources: WCJB TV20
