The Elmore County Sheriff’s Office is still trying to get to the bottom of a Monday morning incident that left Christian Baker, 19, dead after a shooting on Ceasarville Road.
Currently Jason Gosdin, 39, of Wetumpka sits in the Elmore County Jail charged with murder and no bond available to him.
According to Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin, Elmore County deputies responded at approximately 4:20 a.m. Monday to a mobile home on Ceasarville Road.
“It seems that there was a party going on out there at a mobile home,” Franklin said. “Our problem that is sort of hampering our efforts right now, the level of inebriation that a lot of these people at the party experience is making it doubly difficult to try to piece some of this stuff together. The level of inebriation is extremely high.”
Franklin said it is still early in the investigation but it appears Gosdin received a phone call from someone at the party.
“We are trying to determine exactly who that was,” Franklin said. “[Gosdin] drives to this trailer where his ex-wife was.”Â
Franklin said the initial investigation revealed there were several 19 year-olds there including Login Perry who was sitting in the front seat of a vehicle.
“He got pistol whipped by Mr. Gosdin,” Franklin said. “According to [Perry], just as soon as he gets hit with the first lick, the first strike, he pretty much knocks him unconscious.”
Baker is soon injured in the incident.
“There is a round that is fired in that vehicle by Mr. Gosdin that strikes Christian Baker in the back seat,” Franklin said. “He gets shot in the groin. Mr. Baker then opens the door and tries to flee on foot. He evidently collapses.”
Baker is found by first responders still alive and speaks with law enforcement.
“He tells our deputy, who shot him and where it took place,” Franklin said. “We have a dying declaration. He is telling us before he expires what happened to him.”
Franklin said Gosdin left the scene but was quickly located by deputies.
“We make contact with him via phone call and he is initially going to turn himself in,” Franklin said. “That started about 6:30 or 7 a.m.”
Franklin said Gosdin didn’t turn himself in.
“He got in a vehicle with his mother and they were traveling in the Wetumpka area,” Franklin said. “We did a traffic stop and he was in the vehicle. We apprehended him and brought him to the Elmore County Jail and charged him with murder.”
Gosdin was booked into the Elmore County Jail at 9:38 a.m. according to jail records.
Gosdin will make an initial appearance before a judge in the next few days. Franklin said it is possible the charge could change.
“We will likely present this to a grand jury in April,” Franklin said. “When we do it could be that this charge is elevated to capital murder.”
Franklin said shooting into an occupied vehicle causing the death of another person can lead to a capital murder charge.
“That is something the grand jury will determine,” Franklin said. “I’m sure the district attorney’s office will go over the protocol for that.”
Â
