A 33-year-old Live Oak man, Antrell Jermaine Hillard, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with others to steal keys from U.S. Postal Service carriers in Gainesville and Ocala in March 2025. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the sentence, which covers charges including postal robbery and assault. Court records indicate Hillard planned and carried out three separate incidents targeting mail carriers.
Sources: WCJB TV20 · Mainstreet Daily News
Gainesville police are investigating after a woman died following a fall from a downtown parking garage. No further details about the circumstances or the victim’s identity were immediately available.
Sources: The Gainesville Sun
Sophie Lancaster, mother of Malachi Lancaster, is calling for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to reopen the investigation into her 18-year-old son’s death during a December 2024 hunting trip along Williston Road in southwest Gainesville. Florida Fish and Wildlife investigators concluded that the rifle Malachi was carrying discharged when brush caught on the trigger, ruling the death an accident. His mother disputes those findings, saying she does not believe her son was the last person to handle the weapon.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Gainesville Police arrested Ateegra Williams, 35, on charges of attempted murder and evidence tampering after officers responding to a stabbing call near Northwest 58th Avenue found the male victim in a pool of blood with a tourniquet on his arm. A trail of blood led investigators to a home on Northwest 25th Terrace, where Williams was found covered in blood and told officers she acted in self-defense. Officers also noted a bleach bottle and blood-covered knives in the sink, which prompted the evidence-tampering charge.
Sources: WCJB TV20
