GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Police are searching for two armed and dangerous men who are among five men suspected in the July 2016 murder of a Gainesville man who was shot to death while holding his infant child.
Antonio Mason, 35, died on July 27 after suffering gunshot wounds to the chest at a home on Northwest 4th Place, Gainesville police said. Mason's 11-month-old daughter, who he was holding at the time, and a second adult man were also shot but survived.
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Police had offered $8,000 for tips leading to the arrest of the shooters, and detectives said anonymous tips, witness testimony and physical evidence led them to identify five suspects: Jacoby Sheffield, 27, Daryl Wilkerson, 25, and Jamal Thompson, 21, who have been arrested in the case, and Rodney Sheffield, 28, and David Lock, 32, who have not been located yet.
Lock and Rodney Sheffield should be considered armed and dangerous, police said. Anyone with information on their location is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 352-372-STOP or visit gainesvillepd.org.
According to Gainesville police, Wilkerson, Thompson, Lock and Jacoby Sheffield acted under the direction of Rodney Sheffield in an armed robbery conspiracy that ended in the shooting death of Mason.
Police said Rodney Sheffield learned that a large amount of money had been stolen from him a short time before the robbery, and he believed the person who stole the money lived at the Northwest 4th Place home where the shooting occurred.
“This would turn out not to be the case,” police said.
Rodney Sheffield offered money to the other four men to retrieve his lost money, and the four traveled to the Northwest 4th Place house late on July 27, broke into the residence and shot and killed Mason while he was holding his daughter.
All five suspects are facing charges of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Officer Ben Tobias, the Gainesville Police Department spokesperson, praised the work of everyone involved in the case.
“Three people are in jail today for this heinous crime,” Tobias said. “A man was killed while holding his infant daughter. The bullet wound in her arm will be a constant reminder that her father won’t be able to watch her grow up. We will continue to work around the clock until Rodney Sheffield and David Lock are in custody.”