Ocoee High football player and Louisville signee Dexter Rentz Jr. died after being shot late Saturday night, Orlando police confirmed Sunday.
At about 11:19 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Elese Street and Deerock Drive in Orlando’s Carver Shores neighborhood. Four people were shot, with Rentz the only victim who has died from his wounds. One person was listed in critical condition on Sunday afternoon while two others had non-life threatening injuries.
Police detained a person driving away from the area of the shooting, but OPD later reported the person was not related to the shooting. There were no suspects in custody as of Sunday evening and police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.
Louisville football coach Scott Satterfield issued a statement that read: “We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Dexter Rentz. He was a great young man who had a contagious personality, and was able to light up a room with his smile. He was a great kid to be around and he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Rentz family during this extremely difficult time.”
Before police confirmed Rentz had been killed, Orlando area high school players and multiple football coaches posted tributes to Rentz on social media early Sunday morning.
“I got the phone call today about some sad news about the loss of one of my [nine] guys that have signed on to play college football,” Ocoee assistant coach Henry Anderson wrote on Facebook on Sunday at 2:17 a.m. “Not only [have] I lost a good kid but lost a brother.”
Rentz, a cornerback/slot receiver, and Ocoee teammate Lovie Jenkins signed with the University of Louisville in December. Rentz burst on the scene as a sophomore. Filling in for an injured teammate, Rentz saw his first extended varsity action and came up big, tying a state record with five interceptions in the game.
He scored 15 touchdowns this past season and totaled almost 2,000 yards during his Ocoee career. Rentz chose Louisville over scholarship offers from 22 other Football Bowl Subdivision programs.
Jenkins posted to his Twitter account @Lovie1k early Sunday morning, “Forever I gotcha brotha.” He posted again about four hours later. “I promise working harder than I ever did.”
Local trainer Aaron Jones also took to social media, posting on Facebook at 1:40 a.m.: “Found out one of the players I know lost his life tonight. Feeling really pained right now. Violence in Orlando taking too many lives.”
Former University of Florida player Keiwan Ratliff, now on staff with the Gators as an assistant director of player personnel, knew Rentz from his time as part of Ratliff’s Rat Pak 7-on-7 teams.
Dexter Rentz Jr, Dexter Rentz Jr killed,
