A Central Florida family is mourning the loss of 25-year-old Robert Shealey Jr., who they say was trying to break up a fight on a basketball court and keep the peace when he was shot and killed.
Shealey was killed Friday night off the 2200 block of Weston Point Drive in Orange County. His family is now calling for justice.
“I haven’t slept in three days thinking about how my son got killed,” said his father Robert Shealey Sr.
Star Williams, Shealey’s mother, said losing him has been devastating. “That’s my baby boy and his only biological child, so it’s very hard for us,” Williams said.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies said two men were taken to the hospital after a shooting around 8:30 p.m. off Weston Point Drive near a Dollar General. The family said Shealey did not survive.
Williams said her son was known for helping others and tried to de-escalate conflict.
“He kept trying to help everywhere he went, and he tried to diffuse an argument or fight. Then this young man comes in and guns my baby down like a terrorist,” she said.
The family said Robert served four years in the National Guard and was injured in the line of duty. They said he was working to build his future and planned to attend Seminole State College in the upcoming school year.
“He was at the basketball court — he wasn’t at a club, he wasn’t in a gang. He was where he was supposed to be, just shooting ball,” Shealey Sr. said.
The family is urging anyone with information to come forward. “Whenever they catch this dude, whoever he is, he has to be held accountable for it. Anybody hiding him out — you’ve got to let him go. Turn him in,” the Shealey Sr. said.
The family plans to hold a vigil at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Lake Weston Point Apartments basketball court.
We reached to OSCO Sunday afternoon about any updates on the investigation, we’ll let you know the latest once we hear back.