In connection with the homicide of a man whose body was discovered on Tuesday morning in the central business district of Jacksonville, three individuals were taken into custody on Wednesday night.
According to a press release from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Daniel DeGuardia, 18, of St. Augustine, and Holden Dodson, 21, of Jacksonville are both facing a charge of accessory after the fact in murder. Ryan Nichols, 19, of St. Johns, is facing a charge of second-degree murder. Holden Dodson, 21, of Jacksonville, is facing a charge of accessory after the fact in murder.
In a previous report, Action News Jax informed you that the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and SWAT Team assisted the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in serving search warrants on Wednesday afternoon at a property in Stonehurst Plantation and a residence in Durbin Park in connection with an investigation into a homicide that took place in Jacksonville.
In the 500 block of West Ashley Street at approximately 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday, a pedestrian reportedly saw a man lying on the ground next to a dumpster. The man was reportedly unresponsive. That individual flagged down a JSO bailiff, who then reported the incident to dispatch.
According to an arrest report, more JSO officers responded and discovered “multiple shell casings (9mm), an extended magazine with live rounds (9mm) beside the victim, and multiple bullet defects to the dumpster.” All of these items were located in the same area.
The male, age 39, was declared dead at the scene by the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, which also rushed to the scene. The apparent cause of death was a gunshot wound.
According to the arrest report, the victim was being pursued by at least one of the suspects at around 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, and the victim attempted to take cover behind the trash while the culprit was pursuing them.
According to the report, officers from the Homicide and Crime Scene Unit determined that the three males were traveling in a Jeep Grand Cherokee at about the same time.
They discovered that DeGuardia was driving the vehicle, while Dodson and Nichols were occupants of the vehicle. Dodson and Nichols were involved in the incident.
On Julia Street, a 7-Eleven was the location where the automobile and the guys were seen for the first time. Investigators were able to determine that the vehicle was registered to DeGuardia’s mother and trace it to a location in St. Augustine by using databases maintained by law enforcement agencies.
In addition, JSO discovered that Dodson had just informed them that he had misplaced his weapon, which was a Glock model 48 with a 9mm caliber.
“Review of the body-worn camera footage related to his report of the lost firearm, further confirmed that Holden Dodson was the person that was an occupant of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the person that entered the 7-Eleven around the time of the incident on 5/2/2023,” the report said. “This further confirmed that Holden Dodson was the person that was an occupant of the Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
The report stated that “Nichols matched the physical appearance (physical stature, race, sex, hair color, hair length, and hairstyle) to the person (redacted) in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and chasing the victim.”
Both the Community Problem Response Units and the Crime Gun Intelligence Center of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office were of assistance in finding the car and the suspects.
The three suspects were all taken into custody at the residence, which was also the location where the murder vehicle was found by the police.
