After a six-month investigation by the Gilchrist County Sheriff Office (GCSO) and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), officials arrested a Bell man on Thursday for a June 2022 murder.
Joseph O’Brian Rush, 22, will be charged with second-degree murder, according to a joint press release from the GCSO and FDLE. The State Attorney’s Office for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, headed by Brian Kramer, will prosecute the case.
GCSO responded to a Bell residence on June 27, 2022, because of a deceased individual. Law enforcement interviewed Rush at the time, but he said he didn’t see the death because he had been helping a dog deliver puppies.
After an autopsy ruled the manner of death a homicide, GCSO requested assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The investigation ended with Rush’s arrest on Thursday.
Rush is being held in the Gilchrist County Jail on a $1 million bond.