Five suspects have been identified in connection with the July 2016 killing of Antonio Mason and the nonfatal shooting of his infant daughter, Gainesville Police announced Tuesday.
Four of the suspects — Jacoby Sheffield, 27; Daryl Wilkerson, 25; Jamal Thompson, 21; and Rodney Sheffield, 28 — are currently in custody.
Jacoby Sheffield and Wilkerson were arrested Tuesday by GPD, while Thompson is currently incarcerated in Georgia, said GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias at a Tuesday press conference.
Late Wednesday night, Rodney Sheffield turned himself into the Alachua County Jail, Tobias wrote in an email.
Police have yet to find David Lock, 32, he said.
On July 27, 2016, Mason, 35, was killed in a late-night home invasion after being shot in the chest by four gunmen, police said. The gunmen also shot Mason’s infant daughter, Zy’mya, whom he was holding during the invasion — as well as a bystander.
Both Zy’mya, who was 11-months-old at the time, and the bystander, Jordan Smith, sustained nonfatal injuries, according to the release. Zy’mya and Smith were both shot in the arm.
“They broke into the house and just began shooting wildly,” Tobias said.
Initially, GPD offered a $3,000 reward after the shooting for information that would lead to an arrest, according to Alligator archives. But after not receiving many tips from the original award, the department raised the award in late August to $5,000, and did so again in late September to $8,000, according to archives.
GPD believes Rodney Sheffield ordered the other four suspects to break into the house at 820 NW Fourth Place, promising to pay them. Rodney Sheffield falsely believed that someone who had previously stolen money from him lived at the house, according to the release.
All five suspects face charges of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to the release.
“The young infant that was shot,” Tobias said, “that bullet wound in her arm is going to be a somber reminder to her that her father is not there to watch her grow up.”
As of Thursday morning, Wilkerson and Jacoby Sheffield remain in the Alachua County Jail, each in lieu of a $3.5 million bond. Rodney Sheffield remains in the jail with no bond.
