A dispute outside the Savoy Orlando nightclub on North Orange Avenue turned deadly in the early hours of February 22, 2026, when 33-year-old Julien Emmanuel Cruz was shot around 2:30 a.m. Cruz, a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania born May 18, 1992, was found with a gunshot wound and later died at a local hospital. His father said Cruz had been trying to intervene in a fight when he was shot.

Orlando police say the other man involved, 37-year-old Jean Gabriel Borja Gil De La Madr, allegedly retrieved a firearm from his vehicle, shot Cruz, then fled. Officers located the vehicle on East New Hampshire Avenue and arrested Borja Gil De La Madr; he was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm and booked into the Orange County Jail. Friends described Cruz as a sweet, warm person whose smile could light up a room.

Does anyone have information about what led to the altercation that night or witnessed events outside the Savoy Orlando?