Robert Shealey Jr.’s relatives spent months seeking answers after the 25-year-old was killed near a Winter Park basketball court.
WINTER PARK, Fla. — For more than four months, the family of Robert Shealey Jr. waited for an arrest after the 25-year-old veteran was fatally shot in Orange County. Authorities have now charged a 16-year-old with first-degree murder in his death.
The arrest moves the case into a new phase after Shealey’s parents and other relatives publicly called for accountability following the April 17 shooting. Orange County deputies found Shealey and another man wounded after responding around 8:30 p.m. to the 2200 block of Weston Point Drive. Shealey died at a hospital. The other man survived.
Shealey’s family described him after the shooting as a peacemaker who spent time helping younger people and trying to keep them away from trouble. His father, Robert Shealey Sr., said his son believed that reaching even one or two young people could make a difference.
Relatives said Shealey had served four years in the National Guard. They also said he planned to attend Seminole State College and was working toward the next stage of his life. His obituary described him as a veteran, entrepreneur and mentor who had attended Jones High School, where he participated in sports and ROTC.
His family said he had been near a basketball court when the shooting occurred. In interviews shortly after his death, relatives said they believed he had been trying to calm a conflict. Law enforcement has not publicly released a full account of the confrontation or confirmed all of the family’s description of what happened before the gunfire.
The death also reopened an earlier loss for people close to the family. Pastor Jake Stovall, who supported Shealey’s relatives after the shooting, had previously lost his daughter, Renisha Lee, to gun violence. Stovall joined the family’s calls for justice as investigators worked the Shealey case.
In the weeks after the shooting, relatives gathered to remember Shealey and urged anyone with information to help investigators. Their public appeals focused both on finding the person responsible and on the life Shealey had built before his death.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has now said a 16-year-old is accused of first-degree murder. Authorities have not publicly detailed the evidence that led to the arrest, disclosed a motive or explained whether investigators expect additional arrests or charges. The accusation has not been proven in court.
The investigation remains active, according to authorities. The arrest provides the family with a major development after months of uncertainty, but the criminal case and the unanswered questions surrounding the shooting are not yet resolved.
Author note: Last updated August 27, 2026.