(Lake County, FL) On Friday, October 17, 2025, a jury rendered its verdict, finding 32-year-old Darion Dontae McGee, of Leesburg, guilty of First-Degree Murder for the death of 38-year-old Mustafa Hasan Connelly. McGee faces a mandatory life sentence on his conviction.

On December 17, 2021, deputies with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a vacant lot off Veech Road in Leesburg, FL, in reference to a caller advising a person had been shot and set on fire. The caller advised they had heard gunshots in the area earlier that day.

When law enforcement arrived on scene, they observed an unidentified male lying face down, lifeless, and ablaze outside the passenger side of a vehicle. Once the fire was extinguished, officials set up a crime scene perimeter. After running the license plate on the vehicle, authorities were able to determine the registered owner, who subsequently identified the victim as Mustafa Connelly.

The victim had apparent gunshot wounds to his back, and several shell casings were located near the rear passenger side of the vehicle. Aside from the spent shell casings, several other items were collected from the scene as evidence, including a latent print that was lifted from the vehicle.

After speaking with several witnesses, including family members of the victim, it was determined that the victim had been messaging with an individual, later identified as McGee, earlier in the day and was planning to meet up. Detective Mercer, who was assigned the case, then secured a warrant for McGee’s phone records, which placed the defendant at the incident location earlier that day. Records also revealed a conversation between the two indicating McGee requested a face-to-face meeting with the victim.

The latent examination and comparison of the print lifted from the vehicle the victim was in matched that of the defendant. A warrant was subsequently issued for McGee’s arrest.

The successful prosecution of this case was a result of the diligent efforts of Assistant State Attorneys Thomas Wieczorek and Nicholas Camuccio.

Published on 10/20/2025.