Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that law enforcement later confirmed the identity of Xavion Perry III as the body found Wednesday morning.
The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) released the identity of the homicide victim from Tuesday night while the Volusia Sheriff’s Office reported that a body washed up on the beach is believed to be the shooting suspect, Xavion Perry III, 31.
GPD said Brooke Elizabeth Smith, 23, was the victim. GPD said she and Perry may have been dating, and GPD Spokesperson Art Forgey said the department believes Smith was ending the relationship or distancing herself from Perry when the violence took place.
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The incident happened at Creeks Edge Condos just northwest of Gainesville High School. Perry fled the area as officers arrived after calls of gunshots. The officers started lifesaving efforts on Smith, but she died from her gunshot wounds.
Perry’s vehicle was spotted later Tuesday night by the Daytona Beach Police Department, which started a pursuit along with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO).
Headshot of Xavion Perry III
Courtesy GPD
Xavion Perry III
VCSO reported that the driver bailed from the vehicle and fled toward the Main Street Pier. Forgey said Thursday morning that officers thought he had jumped onto the beach and run. But Wednesday morning a body washed onto the beach in the 3600 block of Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond Beach, about 12 miles north of the pier.
Forgey said markings on the body match known markings of Perry, leading to an initial release that Perry had died. VCSO later confirmed that the corpse was Perry.
GPD reports that Perry was originally from North Carolina and had a criminal history of grand theft, domestic violence and resisting arrest.
Smith’s death came just days after GPD Chief Nelson Moya told the City Commission that domestic and dating violence had risen to be one of the top five priorities for 2026—along with violent crime, traffic safety, homeless outreach efforts and recruiting police officers.
Moya said he reviewed the data for domestic violence after prompting from a group of pastors and got concerned.
“What I see is just an ongoing, steady flow of familial violence, also known as domestic violence or dating violence,” he said.
The domestic violence numbers have remained flat even as homicides and shots fired have fallen over the last three years.
At this time in 2025, Gainesville had three homicides, but Moya noted the uptick to six homicides so far in 2026—now seven with Smith’s death. Shots fired reached 170 in 2022 before coming down each year to 64 in 2025 and 11 in the first quarter of 2026.
