Second person of interest in deadly Leesburg park shooting now in custody

Inside Scoop, Leesburg, Unincorporated Lake | By Marilyn M. Aciego | February 20, 2026 | Florida, Lake County, Leesburg, Shooting | 1 minute of reading

LEESBURG, Fla.— A second person of interest in the murder of Juan Gomez Jr., has been taken into custody, according to Leesburg Police Department.

The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force took D’Yuntre Wright into custody late Thursday morning and detectives with LPD conducted interviews at the Orange County Jail, LPD said.

Gomez Jr., 18, of Grand Island, was found dead shortly before 1 p.m. Dec. 14, 2025 in a vehicle at Berry Park, 2121 Johns Avenue, after LPD responded to a report of a shooting victim, LPD Chief Joe Iozzi said in December.

After the murder, LPD quickly identified two “persons of interest,” Wright and James Fenderson IV. Fenderson was taken into custody Feb. 5.

Details remain limited, and authorities have not said what may have led to the shooting.

About The Author

Marilyn M. Aciego

Publisher Marilyn M. Aciego was born and raised in Lake County and is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She began her journalism career at LSSC and in 2023 she was honored with LSSC’s Distinguished Alumni Professional Achievement Award. She began working at the Daily Commercial while she was in college and continued her career there as a reporter after she graduated. In her 20+ year-career, she covered many of the area’s top stories including the disappearance of Trenton Duckett and the death of beloved Sheriff Chris Daniels. She has landed many exclusive interviews and was the first to break two of the biggest stories of 2024- the death of Jamaria Sessions and the murder of a Lake County Sheriff's Office deputy and the attempted murder of two other deputies. In addition to Inside Lake, Marilyn is the single mom of a teenaged son and the Florida Bureau Chief for an international media organization.

About The Author

Marilyn M. Aciego

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