Naples High athlete relearning how to walk after shooting

NAPLES, Fla. — Gunshot wounds have made it doubtful a Naples High School athlete will ever return to competition, and his mother says he doesn’t want to return to school for his senior year because the man accused of shooting him has so many friends there.

Cebasian Jean-Baptiste, a sprinter on the track team, still has bullets in his shoulder and is learning how to walk again, his mother said. Jean-Baptiste, who played on the freshman basketball team two years ago, was told he’ll never play again, a police report said.

It was a dispute over a girl that led to the gunfire, according to police. Keyion Linton, 20, is accused of shooting the 17-year-old Jean-Baptiste in the back and shoulder in July after luring him out of his Golden Gate home under the guise of settling their differences.

Instead, Linton threatened to kill him and forced him to walk at gunpoint to a heavily wooded area near Baily Lane where the shooting took place, police said. Linton then dragged Jean-Baptiste and threatened him with a knife, asking him if he wanted to die by shooting or stabbing, according to the report.

Jean Baptiste spent two weeks at Lee Memorial Hospital recovering from his injuries, said his mother, Audania Jean-Baptiste. He’s returned home, but his mother said the fear that Linton’s friends will come after them has them too scared to stay there overnight. Linton is in custody facing kidnapping, battery and tampering with evidence charges.