[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 03/31/20]
LEESBURG, Florida — A group of people crashed a car into a house Sunday during a gun deal gone bad.
According to multiple arrest affidavits, a 17-year-old boy told Lake County Sheriff’s deputies he was going to meet up with a man in a red car to sell a gun. Lake Legal News is not naming the boy due to his age.
The boy agreed to meet the man — whom LLN is also not identifying because the man had not been charged at press time. They met first at a gas station and a store clerk told them to leave. They next agreed to meet on the side of County Road 468 near the intersection of Montclair Road. The boy approached the driver’s side of the car and found Henry Demetrius Darity, 31, in the driver’s seat when he leaned in to see the gun the unnamed man was going to sell him. Darity — who has been booked into the Lake County Jail 20 times — allegedly grabbed the boy by the arm and tried to pull him in the car.
The unidentified allegedly man began screaming at Darity to shoot the boy and Darity pulled a weapon the boy believed to be a revolver. The boy started punching both men in an effort to escape, according to an affidavit.
The boy was able to take the weapon from Darity and attempted to shoot him, but realized it was a BB gun. Darity accelerated while the boy was still hanging out of the window of the car and struck a house on Montclair Road. Darity, the unidentified man, the juvenile and Erika Jemia Marchbanks all fled the scene.
Deputies located Darity and Marchbanks walking down Jones Drive. Marchbanks, 26, of Leesburg, and Darity of Clermont, first denied being involved, but Marchbanks later she was in the backseat of the car.
Deputies found the boy at a nearby gas station and found a gun in the car he was in. He admitted the Smith & Wesson M&P .40 caliber was his. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a juvenile and turned over to the department of Juvenile Justice.
Darity was charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, aggravated assault with a weapon, attempted kidnapping and resisting arrest without violence. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on $38,000 bond. Marchbanks was charged with accessory to aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, accessory to aggravated assault with a weapon, accessory to attempted kidnapping and resisting arrest without violence. She is being held in the lake County Jail on $10,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
