Man Sentenced After Admitting to Firing Shots in Bar Parking Lot and at Fleeing Victims
SPRING HILL, Fla. – Derrel Leonard Thomas Jr. was sentenced to 53 months in the Florida Department of Corrections on June 19, 2025, after pleading guilty to Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The sentencing by Judge Daniel Merritt Jr. concludes an investigation into multiple shooting incidents that occurred in Spring Hill in March 2024.
The events leading to Thomas’s arrest began on March 27, 2024, when Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of shots fired at Mermaid’s Lounge on Commercial Way just after 1 a.m. Callers reported a male firing a weapon in the parking lot. Shortly after, additional calls reported a secondary shooting incident on Berkeley Manor Boulevard.
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Initially, deputies arriving at both scenes found no one with a firearm, and witnesses at Mermaid’s Lounge were uncooperative. Residents on Berkeley Manor Boulevard reported being awakened by gunfire but could not provide descriptions of those involved.
However, two individuals later returned to Mermaid’s Lounge, identifying themselves as victims in both incidents. They reported being at the bar when they witnessed a male suspect arguing with a group of people in the parking lot. The suspect then retrieved a firearm from his vehicle and began firing shots into the air.
The victims fled the scene in their vehicle. While driving on Berkeley Manor Boulevard, they encountered the suspect’s vehicle ahead of them. The suspect reportedly slammed on his brakes, exited his vehicle, pointed the firearm at the victims, and fired additional shots. The victims managed to escape unharmed.
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Detectives and forensic technicians subsequently located numerous shell casings in the front yard of a residence on Berkeley Manor Boulevard. Their investigation quickly identified Derrel Thomas Jr. as a possible suspect.
On April 4, 2024, Thomas was located and arrested on an unrelated warrant for drug charges, including possession/sale of cocaine, possession of opium or derivatives with intent to sell, unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, and possession of a structure/vehicle to traffic drugs.
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During an interview with detectives, Thomas admitted to firing a single round in the Mermaid’s parking lot and several rounds at the victims on Berkeley Manor Boulevard, claiming they were “following him.” He was subsequently charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.
Thomas will now serve his sentence in state prison for the aggravated assault charge, in addition to facing the no-bond drug-related charges from his unrelated arrest warrant.
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