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Inset: C.J. Nelson, Jr. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The house where an 18-month-old was shot and killed (Google Maps).
A Florida man pleaded guilty this week over his role in the shooting death of an 18-month-old baby girl. Meanwhile, allegations of a concomitant coverup still remain.
On Wednesday, C.J. Nelson, Jr., 21, accepted legal culpability for one count of manslaughter with a firearm, according to Flagler County court records obtained by Law&Crime.
As Law&Crime previously reported, a “frantic” 911 call was made over Labor Day weekend in 2023. The caller said a toddler had somehow been fatally shot in the head. The shooting took place just before midnight at a rental home on Ranwood Lane in Palm Coast — a medium-sized city and part of the Daytona Beach metro area.
The child was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Multiple adults — eight in total — were present at the time of the inexplicable violence, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office alleged.
“During the investigation, it became apparent the crime scene had been tampered with and evidence was likely disposed of and cleaned up,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said during a press conference last year. “It was also obvious that, based on the evidence and scene, that persons that were in the house when the shooting occurred were not being truthful to investigators.”
“It would be a lot easier if everybody told us the truth,” Staly said of the other adults, including the girl’s biological mother. The sheriff said the child’s biological father was not at the scene.
“The child did not touch the firearm,” the sheriff added, identifying the weapon as an “American Tactical multi-caliber assault pistol.”
Now, a substantial portion of the truth appears to have come out.
Nelson’s plea agreement, however, leaves the case in both a state of limbo and finality; the first page of the document indicates the defendant is pleading guilty to the crime; the second page indicates he is pleading no contest. A sentencing hearing has yet to be set.
Additionally, Nelson’s admission comes as an open plea — meaning there was no agreement between the state and the defense for leniency in terms of sentencing or otherwise. His ultimate fate will be wholly in the hands of the judge overseeing the proceedings.
There’s also the matter of the co-defendant in the case.
That would be Nelson’s father: C.J. Nelson, Sr., 46, who was charged with two counts each of tampering with evidence and providing false information to law enforcement in January 2024.
The case has progressed slowly since then.
The sheriff previously identified the defendant’s father as the alleged mastermind of the post-death coverup effort.
“Here’s what he did: he provided instructions on how to stage the scene,” Staly alleged. “C.J. Nelson was observed taking the firearm used in the shooting from C.J. Nelson Jr., using a T-shirt to prevent and wipe off fingerprints from being found on the weapon and placing it in the bedroom where deputies found it.”
The shooter’s father also “instructed witnesses to provide an alibi for himself and his son” by instructing them to tell deputies they were both outside smoking when the shooting occurred, the sheriff alleged. Staly said Nelson Sr. eventually instructed his son to “take a shower” at a different residence while other family members were at the hospital where the child died.