The attorney for an 18-year-old accused of shooting a college student as he drove home from an Atlanta Braves game last fall said prosecutors have some major holes in their case.
Jaelin Quarles is accused of shooting 24-year-old Neil Seiz in the face Sept. 22 following a road-rage incident that began on I-575 in north Cobb County just after 1 a.m.
Police said Seiz was shot outside his subdivision along Bells Ferry Road and that a friend who he was riding with was able to stop the truck and get Seiz to the hospital with the help of another motorist.
Quarles was arrested Feb. 1, but his attorney said Friday that police still haven’t recovered a gun or the green Ford Ranger with a landscaping trailer that Quarles was allegedly driving at the time of the shooting, Channel 2 Action News reported.
RELATED: Police make arrest in road-rage shooting that injured Cobb college student
Cobb police Detective William Nerio said investigators linked the shooting to Quarles using phone records and cell tower activity that placed him in the area around the time it occurred.
Quarles was in the Clayton County jail on unrelated charges when he was charged earlier this year.
But his family remains skeptical of the state’s evidence against the teen.
“You’re going off a phone ping, I just don’t see that as enough evidence to try to hold somebody down,” Quarles’ sister, Miesha Ridley, said. “My heart goes out to them and I hope that they recover, but my brother didn’t do this.”
Attorney Sanford Rice echoed those concerns in court, saying just because Quarles’ cellphone registered in the area doesn’t mean he ever fired a weapon.
The shooting left the Reinhardt University student without the use of his jaw and neck for months, according to Quarles’ warrant.
Seiz’s father said his son has since recovered and that the former Kell High School pitcher is expecting to graduate this summer with a business degree.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
MORE: College student from Cobb recovering at home after road-rage shooting
Despite the attorney’s objections, a Cobb magistrate judge determined that police had enough evidence against Quarles to move his case to superior court.
He remains held without bond at the Cobb County jail, records show.
In other news:
About the Author
