Alachua Woman Arrested, Charged with First Degree Homicide, Christmas Day Walgreens Shooting

By JENNIFER CABRERA

Alachua Chronicle

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Amanda Marie Janzen, 38, was arrested in Alachua Dec. 25, 2023,following a 13-mile high-speed chase after allegedly killing a woman and injuring a man at a Gainesville Walgreens over a custody dispute.

According to the arrest report from Gainesville Police Department (GPD), Janzen and the male victim have been together since September 2021 and have an 11-month-old child. However, after the baby was born, Janzen came to believe that her baby.

y’s father and another woman, the female victim, had been involved in an extramarital affair for years. Janzen reportedly told the female victim’s husband that she was having an affair, and

 several weeks later, her baby’s father filed paperwork in Putnam County for custody of the baby.

On Dec. 20, a court ordered Janzen and the baby’s father to share custody 50/50, and the parents agreed that Janzen would turn over the baby at Walgreens at 3909 N.W. 13^th Street at 2 p.m. on Christmas Da

Janzen reportedly drove from her home in Alachua to the Walgreens store with her five children in her car. On the way, she reportedly pulled into a nearby store and gave her oldest son her debit card, food stamp card, and instructions on how to pay his cell phone bill. Her son reportedly told officers that she had never done this before.

Janzen reportedly arrived at the Walgreens store first and took a gun from her bag while still sitting in her car.

The victims arrived in the female victim’s car, with the woman driving and the man in the front passenger seat. The man got out of the car, then Janzen reportedly got out of her car with the gun in her hand but hidden behind her back and walked toward the driver’s side of the female victim’s car. Janzen allegedly shot at the female victim three times, then went around the back of the car toward the passenger side, where the male victim reportedly jumped into the car before Janzen allegedly shot him three times. Janzen reportedly said, “You made this happen!” while shooting the male victim. The incident was reportedly captured on surveillance video at the store.

The female victim died; the male victim’s condition has not been made public.

Janzen reportedly returned to her car and drove northbound on Northwest 13th Street at high speed. A GPD officer nearby reportedly heard the gunshots and saw the car leaving Walgreens. GPD officers, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies, and Alachua Police Department officers reportedly pursued Janzen for 13 miles with her five children in the car at speeds of up to 100 mph.

During the pursuit, Janzen reportedly called 911 and said she had just shot two people, giving their first and last names, and said the police were following her. Her children could reportedly be heard pleading with her to pull over during the call.

Janzen was arrested near the Taco Bell in Alachua, where officers reportedly found a discarded firearm. A search incident to arrest reportedly produced two additional loaded magazines.

Post Miranda, Janzen reportedly said the police already knew what happened because they had reviewed surveillance video.

Janzen has been charged with first-degree homicide, attempted first-degree homicide, and five counts of child neglect without great bodily harm; a charge of fleeing is on the original arrest report but was crossed out. She has no recent criminal history but was convicted of passing worthless checks in 2004 and convicted of assault and resisting arrest in 2005. Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $2 million.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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