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Alleged shooter arrested in Burger King ‘drug deal’ killing, Ocala police say

David Smith III, 21, faces third-degree murder charge

David Smith III, 21 (Marion County Sheriff's Office)

OCALA, Fla. – An arrest has been made in the November fatal shooting of a man near an Ocala Burger King in “a drug deal gone wrong,” according to police.

David Smith III, 21, faces a third-degree murder charge in the death of Jose Valliant, 28, who was fatally shot Nov. 3 at the Burger King on E. Silver Springs Blvd., the Ocala Police Department said on social media.

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Smith was already in jail to face felony charges of aggravated assault, failure to appear, drug possession, possession of a firearm by a delinquent, drug trafficking and more at the time of the arrest, which took place Friday, records show.

Valliant was pronounced dead at a hospital after reportedly getting into someone’s car and being taken there following the shooting, police said.

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No other details were immediately shared, such as a description the alleged drug deal or what about it had “gone wrong.”

Smith’s arrest followed that of two others who were accused in November of having “involvement in tampering with evidence” in the shooting. They were identified as Kevin Coleman, 29, and Tulana Joshua, 33.


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