WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Hours after the son of a Winter Haven pastor was murdered in the church's parking lot, Polk County deputies made an arrest. The accused shooter's family, however, has some doubts.
Roderick Wilson Jr. was shot and killed early Sunday morning. He was just 20 years old. It happened in the parking lot of his father's church, Pentecostal Church of God on 34th Street in Winter Haven.
The alleged shooter, 22-year-old Taquion Cotton, is charged with his murder.
The deadly shooting has left their two families heartbroken. In exclusive interviews with 10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo, both opened up hours after the arrest was made.
Many questions still are left unanswered for both families connected to this shooting. While one grieves the loss of a bright young man taken too soon, the other is devastated by the other family's loss but wants physical proof Cotton was the shooter.
"It's never going to be the same. I don't have my baby," Emily Pringle said through tears Monday night.
She's heartbroken beyond comprehension. She mourns the loss of her 20-year-old son, lovingly called RJ, with his older brother by her side in Orlando.
"When she called me she was screaming and crying and her first words were someone killed my brother. I just fell to the floor," EJ Dunston said.
The family miles away found out hours after those close to RJ in Polk County did. He was a faithful, loving young man who worked at the church where his father preached.
"I just, I'm torn. That's the last person that made me a mom," Pringle said.
Deputies say he lived in the apartments on the property. Sheriff Grady Judd says deputies quickly identified the alleged shooter after surveillance video showed them arguing.
"There was pushing and talking and Roderick pulled his jacket off and then Taquion drove away," Judd said Monday during a news conference.
That was around 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 22. About 10-15 minutes later, deputies say Cotton came back and shot Wilson. The 20-year-old was found by someone in the area an hour later.
"I'm sorry this has happened. I know these are hard times not only for her family but for mine," Shavon Sheffield said Monday night as she stood in front of the church where the shooting happened.
Sheffield is Cotton's mother. Cotton is currently charged with first-degree murder and several other charges. She says he wasn't mentally sane the last several days, but she doesn't think he pulled the trigger.
"I'm devastated. Very devastated about this situation. He opened up a demonic spirit that he can't control. I don't believe the video or whatever they showed me looked like my son. I asked to see other angles and they wouldn't show me," Sheffield said.
She says she went searching for him after hearing deputies were looking for him, scared they would kill him. When she found him she says he was trying to give a woman money and she was trying to get him to stop.
"He grabbed my hand, was biting it, the police with the taser kept telling him he was going to tase him and I said, 'Please don't tase my son. He's not doing nothing. He's not armed.' He's got me so I said, 'Whatever you need to do, just bite me,'" Sheffield said.
Cotton was arrested shortly after, and his mother is left wondering what went wrong. Meanwhile, Wilson's family is still processing the fact that they have to plan his funeral.
"There's a saying, 'You live by the gun, you die by the gun.' Well, my brother didn't live by no gun and his life was taken away from him senselessly," Dunston said.
Wilson's family plans to memorialize him with a foundation in his name that will help young men transition into adulthood.
They will also hold a candlelight vigil and balloon release on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Pentecostal Church of God where RJ was shot. The church is located at 1261 34th St. NW, Winter Haven, FL 33881. The family invites everyone who knew and loved him to come. The memorial is set to start at 8 p.m.
When it comes to the case, Sheriff Judd says the gun Cotton allegedly used in this shooting hasn't been found and they believe he passed it to someone in the community. The sheriff's office is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who turns it in after deputies verify it was the gun used.