PALM COAST, Fla. — A Palm Coast man is facing manslaughter charges in the Sept. 3 shooting death of his niece. Ja'liya Allen was shot in the head while playing with her mother at their home, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said during a news conference Thursday.
C.J. Nelson, 21, was initially named a person of interest. The sheriff and federal authorities announced during the news conference that a grand jury said Nelson is responsible for Ja'liya's death.
Officers were called to the home just before midnight the day of the shooting and found many people in the yard on Ranwood Lane, Staly said. One of those persons was carrying Ja'liya who was suffering from a bullet wound to the head, the sheriff said.
The child was rushed to the hospital where she died.
Staly said investigators immediately went to work to determine who shot the child, but didn't get much cooperation from the crowd of people at the home.
"Everyone at that home gave conflicting statements as to what occurred," he said. "The statements frankly did not match the evidence. While deputies and paramedics were responding, we believe others in the home were doing their best to destroy and move evidence. They were more interested in saving their ass than saving the life of a small innocent child or holding a killer accountable for his actions," Staly said.
The sheriff then gave an account of what he said investigators found.
"The child's mother was going to take a shower, but it was too hot," Staly said. The mother played with her daughter as she waited for the water to cool down and "during this mother-daughter playtime, a shot was fired that went through a bedroom wall and struck little Ja'liyah in the head," Staly said.
The sheriff said that Nelson, who was showing off the gun at the time of the shooting, was high on marijuana. Nelson's DNA and fingerprints were found on the gun, Staly said. The sheriff also showed a picture of Nelson holding the gun on social media, "While trying to be a punk gangster," Staly said.
Investigators seized drugs and an "American tactical multi-caliber pistol," from the home.
The day after the shooting, Nelson was charged with violation of probation and has been in jail since on no bond.
