JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Attempted murder and other charges have been dropped against a 17-year-old arrested in June after shots were fired at a car carrying four people.
Caleb Sheffield was arrested June 1 and ordered held on $1.1 million bond. Just over two weeks later, he was released from jail when video surfaced showing him in Orlando at the time of the shooting.
Police arrested Sheffield after two women who were in the car were hit by gunfire. His arrest was based on eyewitness testimony.
A family member of a victim, who asked not to be identified, told News4Jax when Sheffield was released that she was concerned.
“I just want JSO to do their job and get to the bottom of it. Just don’t let it go," a family member said. "We need to find out who did this.”
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A private investigator who worked on the case spoke with News4Jax. She asked not to be identified. She said Sheffield should have never been put in jail.
“The charges should have never been processed in the first place, and I think that the evidence and the forensics in this are what freed our client," she said.
The investigator said Sheffield took video at a basketball tournament in Orlando. She said he can't be seen on camera, but his green shoes are visible and his voice is audible. A time stamp on the video shows May 26, which was the same day of the shooting.
The video shows the time was 10:33 p.m., and the arrest warrant shows the shooting happened at 11:12 p.m. in Jacksonville.
"He was in Orlando and that’s two and half hours," the investigator said. "It wasn’t physically possible for him to have done the shooting.”
Despite the charges being dropped, the private investigator said the case will follow the aspiring basketball player forever.
"You Google his name, it's four counts of attempted murder," the investigator said. "That can never be taken away. It will never be off the internet. It will affect him for the rest of his life."
A request for comment from Sheffield's attorney was not immediately returned Thursday night.