3 men arrested after 2 shootings on Clay County streets

Deputies investigate gunfire hours apart in Middleburg, Keystone Heights

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. – Three men are being held without bond inside the Clay County jail after what appeared to be two shootings and a crash Sunday night.

Christopher Cheshire, 36, of Jacksonville; Cody Cramer, 31; of Jacksonville and James Evans, 24, of Middleburg, were all arrested Monday morning. Evans and Cramer were both charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and Cheshire is facing aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. All three men also face vandalism charges. 

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According to the arrest report for Evans and Cramer, the men are accused of shooting a .40-caliber handgun into a vehicle on Courson Road in Middleburg about 6:45 p.m. The victim they were shooting at was not hurt, but his vehicle was damaged.

About five hours later and 25 miles away, Clay County deputies were called to a report of two groups of people shooting at each other from their vehicles on Furman Avenue in Keystone Heights. Deputies said they found a Nissan that appeared to have rolled over. They also found two victims with multiple lacerations, along with multiple witnesses. 

The rest of that arrest report was redacted.

The arrest report for Cramer and Evans states that they both men fired handguns at the victims’ car. Much of the report for Cramer and Evans was also redacted. However, it does show that Cramer and Evans took it upon themselves to park their vehicle in the middle of the road so traffic could not pass, then got out and fired their guns at the victims’ vehicle. 

It’s unclear what started the altercation, but according to the report, Cramer and Evans had multiple opportunities to retreat back to their residence to call law enforcement. 

As of Monday afternoon, mugshots for all three men were not yet available.


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