A 27-year-old Florida man, Kendrick Jerrod Anderson, has been apprehended by law enforcement for allegedly murdering a U.S. Army veteran following a disagreement at a gas station in 2023. Anderson is currently facing a second-degree murder charge for the death of 60-year-old Gregory C. Reed, which occurred in Ocoee, a suburb of Orlando. The arrest was announced by Ocoee police on Friday, following a year-long investigation into the incident.
The incident was initially reported by an employee of a nearby Publix grocery store, who called 911 to report a fatal accident involving a Ford SUV around 8:30 p.m. on November 9, 2023. Upon arrival, officers and paramedics discovered that Reed, the driver of the SUV, had been shot multiple times. Despite being rushed to the hospital, Reed was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Surveillance footage from the grocery store showed Reed’s SUV leaving the adjacent BP/Circle K gas station before abruptly turning right and colliding with a parked vehicle. A witness at the gas station reported seeing the SUV and a Mercedes enter the parking lot simultaneously. The Mercedes driver attempted to pull into a pump, nearly colliding with Reed’s SUV, leading to Reed honking his horn. The witness reported a heated exchange between Reed and the occupants of the Mercedes.
According to the witness, as Reed attempted to exit the gas station, the passenger of the Mercedes approached Reed’s SUV and allegedly fired five shots, hitting Reed multiple times. The Mercedes then fled the scene. At the time of his death, Reed was wearing a Domino’s Pizza T-shirt, having just finished his shift as a delivery driver.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Ocoee police released surveillance images of the Mercedes to the public. The owners of the vehicle, upon seeing the news coverage, contacted the police, stating that they had rented the car to Anderson for two weeks starting October 27. Friends of Anderson confirmed to detectives that he often allowed a friend to drive the rented vehicle while he occupied the passenger seat, a claim supported by street camera footage.
Further investigation led to a search warrant for Anderson’s phone, which placed him in the vicinity of the murder. Additional examination of his phone revealed a picture of a TV station’s live coverage of the murder scene and several text messages requesting “prayers” following Reed’s family’s public plea for information about the shooting. Anderson was arrested on November 4, 2023, and taken to the Orange County Jail. He was later released on a $50,000 bond after prosecutors did not proceed with an order for pretrial detention.
Reed, who served in the U.S. Army from 1981 to 1984, was remembered in his obituary as a caring and committed family man who worked in the food industry and once owned his own restaurant.