Charges dropped against teen accused in deadly shooting outside Jones High football game

ORLANDO, Fla. — The teenager arrested in a deadly shooting outside of a Jones High School football game last fall is no longer facing charges.

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office said the case against Jeremiah Cundiff, 17, is not suitable for prosecution and the charges against him have been dropped.

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The shooting in mid-November hurt three people and led to the death of 19-year-old Gamaine Brown. A little more than a month later, the Orlando police chief announced Cundiff’s arrest.

He was facing three charges, including second-degree murder. But a court filing from earlier this month shows that that’s no longer the case.

Read: Fight outside Jones High School football game leads to deadly shooting in Orlando, police say

This news comes as state leaders pay close attention to the state attorney’s office. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office has been making records requests and demanding answers after the recent mass shooting in Pine Hills.

In this shooting, State Attorney Monique Worrell’s office sent out a release vigorously defending the decision and laying out why they can’t prosecute this case.

Read: Police identify victim in shooting outside of Jones High School in Orlando

Worrell’s office said Monday that the case against Cundiff is “weak, full of holes, and would never support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The office noted the lone witness who claimed she saw the shooting is a 15-year-old student who identified Cundiff from a surveillance photo. But the release states she gave a poor description of the shooter’s clothing, the wrong nickname for Cundiff, and later after he was arrested, couldn’t identify him as the shooter.

The state attorney’s office also stated the actual shooting happened in the darkest part of the parking lot and was not captured on surveillance video.

Read: Police: 2 teens arrested in relation to shooting of 19-year-old outside Jones H.S. football game

As part of a statement, Cundiff’s attorney wrote:

“Mr. Cundiff, a minor under the law, was always innocent. There was also never objective evidence provided to my firm to support the allegations made by the Orlando Police Department.”

Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said Monday afternoon that he wasn’t familiar with what’s going on with the case and would have to get details before commenting.

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