Juan Rodriguez is being released from jail after one person died and another was hurt in a shooting in Golden Gate Estates.
Second Degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and shooting into a dwelling were the charges that Rodriguez was being held on.
However, on Tuesday afternoon a judge said there was no “probable cause” to keep him behind bars.
It was a rare move by a judge in a murder case deputies say was motivated by money. A judge ruled that Juan Rodriguez could go home.
The murder happened in Golden Gate Estates on Sunday. The other man, John Crist, who is accused of pulling the trigger, is behind bars.
Unless the state comes up with new charges, Rodriguez should be a free man soon.
WINK News safety and security specialist, Rich Kolko, shared some thoughts about what was happening.
“They don’t have all the information available to them immediately,” said Kolko. “They have two guys fleeing they grab them wrap them up and based on what they did initially investigating, they thought they had the two right guys but further investigation over the last couple of days has likely shown that the person driving the car may not have been involved in it and the judge probably agreed with that.”
In court on Tuesday, the judge heard how Rodriguez cooperated with deputies and told them where he hid the murder weapon.
What was supposed to be a money exchange, Collier County homicide detectives say, turned into a deadly visit.
Gunshots erupted Sunday morning on 28th Ave SE in Golden Gate Estates. One woman is dead, and her boyfriend is fighting for his life.
The prosecutor asked Detective William Still with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office if Rodriguez detailed what happened. The detective said, “yes.”
In court, the detective who initially interviewed Rodriguez testified that Rodriguez said he was giving Crist a ride from Immokalee, and during the drive, Crist asked him to stop at a house to collect money he was owed.
“Mr. Crist had gone out of the vehicle and proceeded to this trailer, and he heard several pop sounds,” said Still in court on Tuesday.
The detective said Crist jumped in the vehicle, and they took off.
Inside the trailer, 34-year-old Jacqueline Pattinson was shot dead. Her boyfriend, 36-year-old William Greenman, was shot in the head but survived.
Detective Still said Greenman was able to give a description of Crist, who he described as ‘KB’ from East Naples.
That prompted the judge to say there was no probable cause to charge Rodriguez in this case.