Gainesville Drug Dealer Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Two Attempted Murder Cases After Long Line of Incidents
Last month, Austin Gregory Dow, 27, was convicted in two attempted murder cases and sentenced to two concurrent 15-year prison sentences with a ten-year minimum mandatory. This comes after a long line of incidents in Alachua County.
In October 2016, Dow, 17, was charged with three counts of attempted-second degree murder after he allegedly shot a 15-year-old in the face, who was with two other people, WUFT reported. The article does not include an update and it appears Dow was charged as a juvenile because the case is not viewable on court records. He was less than three months away from his 18th birthday at the time.
Catherine Dickson
In March 2018, Dow completed a deferred prosecution agreement for carrying a concealed weapon, which stemmed from a traffic stop in August 2017. Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the gun in Dow’s car, stating the vehicle was searched due to the smell of cannabis. Dow said he had it for “protection” because people in the area wanted to harm him. Deputies reportedly also found a blue bandana and a scale with the residue of cannabis.
In September 2018, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers charged Dow with sexual battery (rape). The victim told police that she was at home visiting with her brother and his friends, which included Dow. At some point, the group of friends left and the victim stayed behind and went to sleep. The victim advised that she woke up to Dow kissing her and that she told him to get off but he did not, proceeding to rape her for at least ten seconds before she stopped him by kneeing him.
When speaking to police over the phone, Dow claimed he and the victim had consensual sex. Officer Ronnie Pirtle asked if there “may have been a miscommunication” and Dow said, “Yeah I mean she was drunk and high and her words were slurring.” Dow said that he stopped when the victim told him too.
Dow was not arrested for this incident. Prosecutors decided to not pursue the case.
From 2019–2021, Dow had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, leading to two stints in Florida prison and felony convictions for possession of cocaine, carrying an unlicensed firearm, drug trafficking, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. During one incident, Dow chased a woman and multiple children out of an apartment, the Gainesville Sun reported.
Daniel Smithson, Gainesville Sun
On March 13, 2022, Dow posted a green liquid substance on his Facebook that was later identified as a drink made with Promethazine, otherwise known as “lean.” After exchanging messages on Facebook, Dow and the victim agreed to engage in a drug transaction on the southside of Hideaway Apartments.
When they arrived, Dow reportedly pulled out a “baby bottle” that was filled with the green liquid substance. Dow approached the victim’s vehicle and was at the front driver’s window for the majority of the transaction.
The victim reportedly told police that Dow “was wearing a ski mask pulled up enough that he could see his nose, so, he could see [Dow]’s nose-ring - an accessory he has known [Dow] to wear in the past.” He told Dow he didn’t believe the liquid was thick enough and Dow reportedly “offered to go back into the apartment, get a second bottle and use it to transfer the liquid from one bottle to the other so [the victim] could see that it was as thick as it should be.”
The police report states Dow left. Sometime after, the victim reportedly began maneuvering his vehicle to leave the area “while still in possession of the baby bottle filled with the green substance” because he felt like Dow “had been gone for an unusually long” amount of time. The victim advised that he saw Dow approaching and “suddenly feared for his life” so he began driving away. As he was driving away, the victim stated he heard a brick-like sound on his driver’s window and saw Dow running alongside his vehicle. The victim sped up and reportedly “heard gunshots and felt glass from the driver’s window as it shattered on him.” The victim crashed into a parked vehicle, leading him to run away and leave behind the lean.
Officers found a “trail of green fluid” leading from the victim’s vehicle to the location of the drug deal. Officers found Dow’s cell phone near the scene.
On July 1, 2022, GPD filed a sworn complaint charging Dow with attempted murder for this incident, however, a warrant was not immediately issued. Dow wouldn’t be arrested until July 17, 2022, after he was involved in a drive-by shooting.
It was around 2:30 a.m. and GPD was in the area of downtown Gainesville attempting to conduct crowd control as the bars were closing. At this time, approximately 15 shots were discharged from a gray Kia Soul. Several bystanders were walking or standing within 1,000 feet of the vehicle. The shooting prompted panic from the crowd and people in the area started trying to run towards a safe location.
A GPD Facebook post on the incident states officers had to “duck for cover.” The post confirms that no one was hit by gunfire.
Officers observed the Kia traveling East onto NW 1st St. and then northbound on Main St. A chase ensued, with multiple patrol vehicles following the Kia with their sirens activated. The occupants only stopped after crashing at 3100 N. Main St., causing an estimate of $8,000 in damages. Several uniformed officers converged on the vehicle but the occupants fled on foot and disregarded commands to stop.
Officers used a K-9 to track the defendants and located them in the area. Officers recovered two firearms in the area.
Officer Isaac Sutton reported that “investigation revealed all the [defendants] were together while they were shooting from the vehicle. One of the projectiles hit one vehicle in the rear windshield…”
Officers arrested Dow along with the three other occupants of the vehicle, Akwan Naziek Sincir Osborne, Joseph J. Cromwell III, and Jeremiah Charles White. All were initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, along with other charges relating to the incident.
Prosecutors dropped the attempted homicide charges that Cromwell and Osborne were facing about a month after their arrests. Both pled no contest to resisting and gun charges in exchange for prosecutors not arguing for a sentence of incarceration and agreeing to probation, with the condition that they agree to “testify truthfully” at any court proceedings involving their co-defendants. Osborne was sentenced to five years of probation. Cromwell was sentenced to ten years of probation. Both faced probation violation proceedings but were allowed to continue. Osborne's probation was terminated early.
On June 22, 2026, White, who had an another attempt murder case, took a plea deal where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for both cases, running concurrently. After taking the plea, prosecutors spoke to White and he reportedly “made statements that could be exculpatory in nature as it relates to Mr. Dow."
On July 16, 2026, Dow took a plea deal where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and convicted of attempted second-degree murder for the March 2022 shooting and attempted first degree murder (principal) for the July 2022 shooting. He was also convicted of possessing a weapon for ammo as a convicted felon, firing into a vehicle or dwelling and resisting an officer without violence. The plea deal was accepted by Judge Susanne Wilson Bullard.
Dow and White were both placed in the same unit at the Florida Department of Corrections Reception and Medical Center.
