Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Archie Sundiata Townsend, Jr., 17, has been charged as an adult with attempted homicide and battery by strangulation after allegedly attacking a woman who was leaving the gym at Reserve at Kanapaha late at night.

The victim told a responding Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy that she had left the gym at the complex at about 2:30 a.m. on June 20 and had walked across the road to the mailbox. She said she saw someone in the parking lot of the complex, dressed all in black and walking toward her. She said she started walking toward the front office and saw that the person was walking faster and moving directly toward her; he then ran toward her. She said she tried to run, but he tackled her into a mulch bed and put her in a choke hold. She said she tried to scream, but her voice was faint because he was choking her.

The victim said she scratched the man’s arm to get him away from her, but he did not loosen his grip. She believed he was trying to kill her and told him she had a child, hoping that would make him let go, but he did not. She said he was also punching her in the temple and she felt like she was about to lose consciousness. She said she reached behind her, grabbed the man’s genitals, and squeezed and twisted them, and he let go.

However, she said that at that point, he stood over her while she was still on the ground, and he put one hand under her chin and one hand on top of her head before twisting in an apparent attempt to break her neck. She said he tried to snap her neck several times.

After trying to snap her neck, she said, he grabbed her by her pants, around her knees, and she started kicking him. She said he reached for something in his pocket, but it seemed like he couldn’t find it and thought he might have dropped it; he let go of her legs and started looking for something in the mulch. She said she started backing away, and he picked something up from the mulch, put on a ski mask, and walked away.

The deputy reported that the victim’s injuries were consistent with her account of the incident. He also reported that the mulch in front of the complex’s office was disturbed, with the victim’s mail spread over the ground, along with her cell phone and keys. He said there was a knife on the ground that belonged to the victim and a can of bear spray that did not belong to the victim. Video footage from the office reportedly showed a dark figure running after the victim.

At about 9:09 p.m. on June 22, other deputies responded to the Reserve at Kanapaha after a call about an attempted vehicle burglary. Patrol deputies found Townsend in the area and detained him.

Post Miranda, Townsend reportedly denied knowing anything about the attack on June 20. He reportedly said that he often goes to the gym at Reserve at Kanapaha, although he lives at the Oak Park Mobile Home Park. He said he was walking around his neighborhood, which is directly across the street from the Reserve of Kanapaha, at the time of the attack.

Townsend reportedly had several scratches on his left arm, in the same area where the victim said she scratched her attacker; he reportedly said they came from climbing a barbed wire fence.

The victim positively identified Townsend in a double-blind photo lineup.

Townsend has been charged as an adult with attempted homicide and battery by strangulation. He has juvenile convictions in 2024 and 2025. Judge David Kreider ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

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.