Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly to hold news conference

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A second arrest has been made in the shooting death of an 18-month-old in Flagler County last year.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly will announce new details and the arrest during a news conference Monday at 11:30 a.m.

Ja’liyah Allen, 18 months old, was shot in the head on Sept. 3 at a home on Ranwood Lane in Palm Coast.

A couple months after the fatal shooting, the girl’s uncle, CJ Nelson Jr., was arrested on a charge of manslaughter with a firearm.

Staly said during a November news conference that the girl and her mother were playing in the hallway when the shooting happened.

“During this mother-daughter playtime, a shot was fired. It went through a bedroom wall and struck little Ja’liyah in the head. We determined that CJ Nelson was impaired and high on THC at the time of the shooting and handling the firearm,” the sheriff said.

Staly said

At the time, the sheriff said no one else faced any charges though there was at least one other person at the home suspected of attempting to destroy evidence.

The sheriff’s office said in the initial release that there were eight people in the home during the shooting.

News 6 will stream the news conference live at the top of this story.

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About the Author:

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She graduated from UCF and returned to Central Florida after working in Colorado.