A Toledo man who spent about five months in jail accused of taking part in a June festival shooting that wounded 12 people is free after prosecutors dropped the charges against him Friday, citing new and developing evidence, the Associated Press reported.
Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, had been accused of multiple counts of attempted murder, felonious assault, gang activity and firearms-related charges in the June 6 shooting at Toledo’s Old West End Festival, according to the Associated Press. Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia Bates said in a statement Friday that in September, prosecutors informed Crisp-Carr’s attorney of discovery “that may support his defense,” the AP reported.
“The Toledo Police Department continues its investigation,” Bates said in the statement, as reported by the Associated Press. “Both the department and our office remain committed to following the evidence and getting it right, just as we are in every case.” A judge agreed to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning prosecutors retain the legal authority to refile them, the AP reported.
Crisp-Carr’s attorney, Alex Bodiford, had argued that police arrested the wrong man. “It’s been a rough five months for Eljay,” Bodiford said in an email, as reported by the Associated Press. “Fortunately for him he has a mom and other family members who supported him and held him up through it.”
The gunfire broke out June 6 during the Old West End Festival at a park filled with tents, music and food trucks in a Toledo neighborhood dotted with Victorian homes, according to the Associated Press. Police said a fight between rival groups apparently escalated into two people shooting at each other, although neither was among the wounded, the AP reported. The victims ranged from teenagers to one person in their 60s, and organizers canceled the festival’s second day because of the shooting.
In a criminal complaint filed in Toledo Municipal Court after the shooting, a detective described video that he said showed Crisp-Carr participating in the fight and then turning and opening fire into the crowd, according to the Associated Press. The dismissal Friday does not explain what the new evidence shows, and prosecutors did not detail it in the statement reported by the AP.
The case is not over for everyone charged. Another man charged in the shooting remains in jail and is scheduled to be back in court on Nov. 9, the Associated Press reported. For Crisp-Carr, the next step is life outside jail — unless prosecutors choose to bring the charges again.
Photo: MrJacon000, CC BY-SA 4.0