ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Two teenagers are facing charges in the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old, who was found Sunday in Orange Park, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were sent to the area of Bonnlyn Drive and Clermont Avenue South just after noontime Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators said they found someone who had been shot to death.
Through witness testimony, evidence and surveillance video, deputies identified two persons of interest, investigators said. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Andrew Neeper, 17, was arrested and charged with murder. Another 17-year-old was arrested and charged with evidence tampering and accessory to murder.
According to arrest reports obtained by News4JAX, an investigator wrote that one of the teens acted as a “lookout” while another shot and killed 17-year-old Jandel Rodriguez.
“There’s nobody on this earth that gave me a bigger smile than him,” said Rodriguez’s sister, Bella. “He was so goofy, so loving.”
His sister said she and her brother were put into foster care as children. She lives in California and said Rodriguez had plans to move out west with her in Fresno. They reconnected several years ago and talked daily.
“I was supposed to go and pick him up in a couple of days,” Rodriguez’s sister said. “He didn’t deserve it. This world was cruel to him.”
The Sheriff’s Office said there was animosity between the two suspects and the victim and that the shooting was the result of a fight.
The Sheriff’s Office said the teen was found near a walking path.
Sam Sprout lives on Clermont Avenue South. He said the path is a shortcut known as “the cut.”
“It’s a cut through to get to the high school, to get to Kingsley (Avenue),” he explained.
Sprout said not only does he live a few doors down from the scene, he also has a 17-year-old son.
“He also frequented the cut, and a lot of the neighborhood kids around here did, and my fear was that could have been my son,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office says additional charges and arrests are possible.