An 18-year-old man was arrested this week for his alleged involvement in a shooting in Orlando that claimed the life of a 22-year-old mother and left three others wounded in 2023.
On Thursday, March 28, 2024, Christian Amari Childs was apprehended in Osceola County by the Orlando Police Department’s Fugitive Investigative Unit.
Childs is being charged with three counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm; shooting at, within, or into a building; discharging a firearm on residential property; and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with a shooting incident that occurred at the Jernigan Gardens Apartments (1440 Mercy Drive) on September 22, 2023.
No further details were provided by police regarding Childs’ alleged involvement in this case.
On the day of the shooting, at around 2:35 p.m., OPD officers responded to Jernigan Gardens Apartments after receiving reports regarding a large group of people fighting with shots fired.
Upon arrival at the incident location, police located three individuals who had been struck by gunfire and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
A fourth victim of the shooting, Macayla Queen Patterson, was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
On the day of the shooting, police took 23-year-old Delray Shundale Duncan into custody on charges of attempted homicide and first-degree felony murder.
Less than two weeks after the shooting, OPD’s Fugitive Investigative Unit apprehended another suspect, 18-year-old Gary Lee Williams III, in connection with the case. He was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.
Duncan and Williams have both entered a plea of “not guilty.” A pre-trial hearing for both individuals will be held in Orange County on May 21, 2024, according to court records.
The victim in this homicide case, Macayla Queen Patterson, went by the nickname “Ruby K’ior.” She was an entrepreneur, hair stylist, and licensed cosmetologist who owned Kiorsko, LLC.
Patterson was also the mother of two young boys.
The Orlando Police Department encourages anyone with information related to the shooting incident to contact the Central Florida Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS(8477), or call OPD at 321-235-5300.