Less than 200 yards away from an elementary school, a Gainesville man survived a gunshot wound to the face Tuesday.
Jakesha Janay Haynes, 24, is accused of shooting Chrishaune Latez Lee inside her living room at Village Forest Green Apartments, according to a Gainesville Police Report. The apartment complex, located at 3101 NE 15th St., is directly across the street from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Elementary School.
Rodricas Jovan Young, Lee’s cousin and Haynes’ boyfriend, told police the situation began when he and Haynes started arguing. According to the report, Lee interrupted the argument and asked Haynes, “Why are you so mean and talk trash?”
Lee, who is in his 20s, told police that Haynes then retrieved a Cobra .380 semi-automatic from her bedroom and proceeded to argue with him while waving the gun in his face, according to the report. Lee told police she then shot him in the nose at close-range.
After responding to the scene, detectives got a hold of the weapon, identified Haynes and got Lee transported to the hospital immediately, said GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias.
“The victim’s going to survive,” Tobias said.
Haynes told police the bullet went off because Lee pushed the gun out of his face while they argued, according to the report. She told police that immediately after the shooting, she drove Lee and Young to the Gainesville Fire Rescue Station on 900 NE Waldo Road so Lee could see medics.
Haynes then drove back to her apartment, hid the gun in her neighbor’s apartment and attempted to clean Lee’s blood from her apartment and outdoor sidewalk with bleach to cover up evidence, according to the report.
Haynes faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence, according to the report.
As of press time, Haynes remained in the Alachua County Jail where she will have her first court appearance Wednesday morning.
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About two hours after the shooting, residents of the apartment complex stood outside their front doors and watched from afar as police remained outside Building N, the site of the shooting.
Residents said they were surprised when GPD and a camera crew from WCJB-TV 20 arrived in their complex. They said loud bangs from construction workers drilling into the roof of Building N muffled the sound of the shooting.
“Everybody was in their house, we can’t hear anything with all that,” a woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said as she pointed up toward the construction. The two roof workers, who also wished to remain anonymous, said they heard a loud noise but assumed it was nothing.
Some residents said they hadn’t even heard the gunfire. Two buildings down from the site of the shooting, a group of about seven young men chatted by their apartment stairwell, unaware of what happened just two hours earlier.
“That’s crazy as f---” one of the young men said when he heard about the shooting.
The woman said in the 10 years she’s been living in the neighborhood, she’s rarely ever seen shootings like Tuesday’s.
“I think there’s been one or two, but it’s been years ago,” she said. “Nothing’s been happening out here recently. Everything’s been fine.”
This is an ongoing report. Updates will be made regularly.
Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @hoffdavid123.
Village Forest Green Apartments
