A shooting at Berry Park in Leesburg, Florida, on the afternoon of December 14, 2025, left 18-year-old Juan Alberto Gomez Jr. dead. Officers who responded shortly before 1:00 p.m. found him unresponsive inside his mother’s SUV with at least one gunshot wound; Leesburg Fire-Rescue and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses said three younger individuals exited the vehicle right after the shot, grabbed trash bags from the car and ran off on foot. Friends and family described Gomez, known as Junie, as an aspiring rapper who often visited the park with his father to hand out food to people experiencing homelessness.

By late December, detectives had named two 17-year-olds, James Fenderson IV and D'Yuntre Wright, as persons of interest and were seeking them for information; no formal arrests or charges had been announced. The victim’s mother, Valerie Long, asked anyone with information about the suspects to come forward.

If anyone has information about what happened at Berry Park that day or the identities and whereabouts of the three people who ran from the scene, please share what you know.