Deputies arrested a Gainesville man Monday in connection to a February Micanopy murder.
Jeremy Buckner, 28, of Gainesville, was arrested on a warrant for the murder of 20-year-old Daniel Schweitzer, according to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Schweitzer was reported missing Feb. 3.
On Feb. 25, deputies found his body underneath palm fronds on the side of County Road 234 in Micanopy.
His body was decomposing near a blue blanket, the report said. Medical examiners found metal fragments in Schweitzer’s head and determined he died from a gunshot wound.
Two days later, detectives found the car Schweitzer drove in the Cedar Ridge and Holly Heights neighborhood near the 6000 block of Southwest Sixth Place, the report said. Detectives searched the car and found a GPS.
The GPS’s data discovered Schweitzer had driven to Buckner’s home on Jan. 9, the report said. It also showed he was there for one minute and then drove toward Newberry Road and Tower Road.
Between Feb. 3 and 4, geolocation data from Snapchat and Google showed that Schweitzer’s phone was in Buckner’s home, the report said.
When Buckner was arrested on April 17, he told deputies that Schweitzer was at his home on Feb. 3 to watch the Super Bowl, but Buckner did not have cable and had no plans to watch the game, the report said.
Schweitzer’s Snapchat location showed he was at Buckner’s home at about 10:20 p.m. and went to Jonesville, Florida, the report said. He returned about an hour later.
A witness told deputies that on Feb. 3, they smoked marijuana with Buckner and Schweitzer, the report said. The witness then went to the master bedroom to watch Netflix.
They later heard a pop and went into the living room, the report said. They saw Schweitzer’s body laying on the floor and his head covered with a trash bag.
Buckner told the witness, “We have to do something fast,” the report said. The witness told Buckner to go to Walmart and buy a blanket to carry Schweitzer.
After buying the blanket, they used it to carry Schweitzer to the trunk of the witness’ car, the report said. The witness drove with Buckner to Micanopy and left Schweitzer’s body on the side of the road.
The witness told deputies that Schweitzer had stolen drugs and money from Buckner’s home the night before, but they were not sure if that is why Buckner killed him, the report said.
On April 17, deputies stopped Buckner’s fiancee, told her they were going to execute a search warrant on Buckner and asked if anyone was at his home, the report said. She called Buckner and he left the home locked with his fiancee’s 4-year-old daughter inside.
Detectives found the wall and floor of his home tested positive for the presence of blood, the report said.
Buckner was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm, mishandling human body remains, tampering with evidence and first-degree murder.
Buckner remains in the Alachua County Jail in lieu of a $40,000 bond.
Buckner
