Three men were indicted for a retribution murder in Central Florida.
31-year-old Damarious D. Cofield now faces the death penalty for first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm for shooting 22-year-old La-Don Ja Quan Williams on West 14th Street in Sanford, Florida.
Williams’ older brother served as a prosecution witness against Thallas Inman, a gang leader who was sentenced to life in prison in October for the automatic-rifle ambush that killed an 18-year-old in a car at a Sanford apartment complex. Investigators believe Williams’ murder was meant to serve as retribution and a warning.
The Seminole County Grand Jury indicted three men for assassinating the brother of a gang member who had testified against another member in a 2025 murder trial. The Grand Jury also indicted 30-year-old Moses Mitchell III and 30-year-old Jamarlon L. Green for first-degree premeditated murder for helping Cofield plan and carry out the hit on Williams.
A witness said the victim was playing a dice game in the street with an acquaintance at about 2:30pm when a man wearing a black hooded jacket and black ski mask emerged from nearby shrubs, walked toward them aggressively, and shot Williams four times with a handgun. Williams died from his wounds at a hospital shortly thereafter.
With help from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office’s digital-forensics unit, Sanford Police detectives pieced together witness statements and security video from neighboring homes and businesses to identify a getaway vehicle: a rented Jeep Compass with a New Jersey license tag. Rental agency records for that vehicle plus security video confirmed the Jeep’s driver was Mitchell.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Mitchell’s mobile-phone, which revealed communication and coordination with Cofield leading up to the murder. Further investigation, including search warrants for Cofield and Greens’ phones, identified Damarious Cofield as the shooter. Digital evidence indicated that Green directed the killing and arranged for Cofield to pick up a handgun at a home Green’s family owned near the crime scene.
The grand jury’s indictment of Cofield and Green includes enhanced charges for gang-related murders. Both belong to a Sanford area street gang affiliated with a national Haitian-American criminal organization.
The victim, La-Don Ja Quan Williams, had not done anything himself to incite the gang members. All three defendants have been arrested by Sanford Police and were being held without bond at the Seminole County jail.
The State Attorney’s Office for Seminole County filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Cofield, citing aggravating factors that include the homicide was “committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner,” the capital felony was committed by a criminal gang member, as defined by Florida statutes, and the murder was committed to disrupt or hinder law enforcement or the lawful exercise of any government function.
