Trial for murder suspect should begin soon

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shooting, patel, armed robbery, ocala post
Ujjval “Rocky” Patel [top left-deceased] and Keon’dre Demerio Duncan. (Ocala Post file photo)
Ocala, Florida — Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman says that the trial for the man suspected of killing jiffy store clerk Ujjval “Rocky” Patel, 33, should begin in September.

The shooting occurred during an attempted robbery on  April 22, 2016, at the Jiffy Food Store, located at 2425 Northwest 10th Street, Ocala.

At that time, detectives said that at approximately 9:50 a.m., a black male armed with a handgun entered the store, jumped over the counter, scuffled with Patel, and then shot him in the head.

Patel died at the scene.

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Ocala Post file photo. Courtesy of OPD.

The shooter fled the scene empty-handed.

The suspect was described as wielding a silver and black semi‐automatic handgun.

On April 29, 2016, Ocala Police Department detectives named Keon’dre Demerio Duncan, then 19, as the primary suspect in the shooting. OPD quickly sent out a bulletin to the media.

An arrest warrant was issued, and on January 20, 2017, Duncan was taken into custody at the Paddock Mall during a traffic stop. Duncan was a passenger in the vehicle that an Ocala police officer had stopped.

Duncan, now 21, has been behind bars at the Marion County jail since that time. He is charged with First-degree Murder with a Firearm.

Duncan had a previous arrest on January 25, 2016, and was charged with Battery on a School Official at Vanguard High School.