A Gainesville man will face the death penalty after a grand jury indicted him for shooting and killing two people and abducting another from Summer Place Apartments in February.
Cedric Tremaine Plummer, 24, walked into the leasing office of Summer Place Villas apartment complex, located at 3316 SW 41st Place, in silence and shot two employees dead and kidnapped another at about 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13, according to court records. The state attorney’s office said it would pursue the death penalty April 3 for the first time in Alachua County in about three years.
Plummer had argued with the apartment complex’s management since Feb. 2 for damaging the inside of his apartment, and police had been called at least three times because of his aggressive behavior, according to court records.
He scheduled an appointment Feb. 13 with 28-year-old Jude Onyegbulam Osuji Jr. and 61-year-old Robert Earl Brumbaugh in the leasing office. Office manager Hailey Roberts, 19, joined her two coworkers for the meeting, according to court records.
Police allege Plummer opened the door and shot both men dead without saying a word. Then he took Roberts to her car at gunpoint and forced her to drive to Georgia, according to court records.
He put the gun to her head as she drove and said to stop crying, telling her to remember what he did to Osuji and Brumbaugh, she later told police.
Police were able to trace Roberts’ car and attempted to pull it over.
“Don’t stop unless you wanna (sic) see brains in your lap,” Plummer said, according to court records.
Roberts was freed in Lowndes County, Georgia, according to Alligator archives. Plummer was eventually arrested on charges of kidnapping and two counts of premeditated first degree murder, according to court records.
He was indicted on two counts of first degree murder and a count of kidnapping by a grand jury March 2.
State Attorney Bill Cervone made the decision to pursue the death penalty after about 45 days. He said the decision could be changed if new information is presented, like detailed information on Plummer’s current mental health and mental health history.
“I had to make a decision based on what we know now, which is the deliberate execution-style killing of two people,” Cervone said.
He awaits a hearing at 9 a.m. April 25 in room 3B of the Alachua County Criminal Justice Center on whether his DNA can be collected by the prosecution, according to court records.
Plummer’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.
Cedric Tremaine Plummer
