A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing his 18-month-old niece as he showed off a gun to his friends while high on marijuana — leading a sheriff to label the suspect a “punk gangster.”
CJ Nelson Jr, 22, was charged Wednesday with felony manslaughter with a firearms in the death of Ja’liyah Allen.
Deputies raced to a home on Ranwood Lane in Bunnell on before midnight on Sept. 2 after receiving a 911 call about a shooting and found the tot suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The child was taken to a hospital, where she died.
A two-month investigation has determined that Ja’liyah’s mother was playing with the toddler in the hallway before bath time when a shot was fired outside, according to Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.
“[The bullet] went through a bedroom wall and struck little Ja’liyah in the head,” Staly said in a press conference Thursday announcing Nelson’s arrest that aired on First Coast News.
The sheriff added that Nelson was high on marijuana while showing off an American tactical multi-caliber assault pistol.
It is believed the firearm discharged as the 22-year-old allegedly tried to unjam or otherwise manipulate it, said Flagler County Sheriff’s detective Kathryn Gordon, the lead investigator on the case.
Nelson’s DNA and fingerprints were found on the gun, according to Staly, but he denied being at the house on the night of the tragedy.
The sheriff also shared a photo of Nelson brandishing the large gun on social media, “While trying to be, frankly, a punk gangster,” Staly said.
The sheriff also griped that the 8 adults who were present in the home at the time of the shooting “gave conflicting statements that did not match the evidence” — and that at least one of them may have tried to destroy the evidence while paramedics were working on the dying tot.
“They were more interested in saving their a– than saving the life of a small innocent child or holding a killer accountable for his actions,” Staly seethed.
Deputies said in a report that they found blood trails on the floor throughout the house, and the assault pistol stashed in a closet along with drugs.
Ja’Mari Allen, baby Ja’Liya’s’s 19-year-old father, previously told the station News4Jax that he wanted justice for his daughter.
He said his “sweet baby” was “wonderful and loved saying hi to everyone.”
Nelson has been in jail since Sept. 4, when he was named a “person of interest” in his niece’s shooting and initially arrested on an unrelated probation violation. He was denied bond.
Nelson has a prior criminal history, which includes gun and marijuana possession charges stemming from an arrest in November 2022.