Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Keshawn Tyrone Ferguson, who turned 18 on September 22, is facing adult charges tied to incidents that allegedly occurred when he was 17. The charges include vehicle burglary, grand theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent.
The investigation began August 4, when a Gainesville Police Department officer was working to locate a stolen Honda Civic. A license plate reader detected the vehicle heading south on SW 23rd Drive from SW Archer Road at approximately 12:58 p.m., followed by another sighting traveling east on Archer Road around 1:08 p.m. Because the timing and route pointed to the Wawa at 2373 SW Archer Road, the officer went there to request surveillance footage.
According to the video, the Civic pulled up to a gas pump at about 1 p.m. Two Black males who appeared to be juveniles then exited the vehicle. Investigators later identified the driver as 15-year-old Deron Cortez Williams and the passenger as Ferguson, who was 17 at the time.
At roughly 1:03 p.m., the two teenagers went inside the Wawa and used approximately $4 in change to purchase gasoline.
Not long afterward, the same officer encountered the two juveniles while responding to an unrelated call near Woodland Park Apartments. She requested additional officers and kept the pair under observation until backup arrived. Both were taken into custody without incident.
After being read his Miranda rights, Ferguson reportedly told investigators that he and the others entered the Civic after finding it unlocked. He said he could not recall where they located the vehicle.
Williams reportedly gave investigators a different account of the trip’s starting point. After receiving his Miranda warning, he said he and Ferguson had been at Canopy Apartments, located at 4400 SW 20th Avenue, and needed a way to get home. Williams said they found a vehicle with the keys inside, entered it and drove to the 2200 block of E. University Avenue. They then abandoned the Civic and took a bus to Woodland Park Apartments. He reportedly said the keys had been in the vehicle’s cupholder.
Williams later led officers to an area near SE 22nd Street and SE 2nd Avenue, where police recovered the stolen Honda Civic.
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Police also reported finding a Taurus G2c handgun inside Ferguson’s backpack. The firearm had been reported stolen from a vehicle on July 26, 2026. Ferguson reportedly told officers he found the gun near Woodland Park Apartments.
Investigators said Williams’ GPS monitoring records placed him at the residence where the Taurus was allegedly stolen on July 31. The records also reportedly showed him at the Archer Road Wawa between approximately 1 p.m. and 1:07 p.m. on August 4, matching the timeframe captured by the store’s surveillance cameras.
During a subsequent interview, Ferguson reportedly acknowledged breaking into a vehicle and said he discovered the Taurus handgun inside its glove compartment.
Ferguson is charged with possessing a firearm as an adjudicated delinquent under age 24, grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary of an unoccupied vehicle. He is currently on juvenile probation. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $85,000.
Details surrounding Williams’ juvenile case have not been released publicly.
Arrest reports provide the basis for coverage of criminal cases. The charges described here come from law enforcement reports and/or court records and represent allegations only. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
