CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Family of 34-year-old Stephen Perry said he took his last breath Thursday as he was taken off life support after family said he was beaten by a group of people with baseball bats one week ago in Clay County.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office said Kalvin Roe was arrested on Tuesday in Statenville, Georgia -- more than 100 miles from where the attack happened -- on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in connection with the attack.
The Clay County homicide unit was able to track Roe's cellphone pings to the Echols County Sheriff's Office in Georgia. Deputies in Echols County said Roe was found within one block of their headquarters. They said Roe tried to run but was caught.
Roe is being held in the Lowndes County Jail in Valdosta, Georgia, where he is waiting to be extradited to Florida.
Deputies traveled to Echols County, where they learned Roe did not act alone. Now they are looking for others who were involved with the brutal beating.
"He didn’t deserve anything like this. He was beaten and put in the back of a truck and then drove somewhere and then thrown on the side of the road and left die," said Perry's friend, who asked not to be identified.
The friend told New4Jax that up to 10 people targeted Perry in front of his friend's home on an unlit and dirt road.
"He’s a father of two girls, and he was trying to get his life back in order and had a good job," the friend said.
Perry's brother said this past week has been very difficult on the family and this isn't how he wants to remember his brother.
In another sad twist, Perry's brother told News4Jax the family is also mourning the death of their loved one who died three years ago to the week.
Jordan Cooper’s body was found hidden in the attic of her home more a month after she was reported missing by her mother. The 25-year-old’s killer was charged with murder, burglary and sexual battery.