3rd arrest made in St. Johns County drug-deal shooting death

Kahlil R. Cooke, 20, shot after trying to rob drug dealers, police say

Booking photo of Gerald Evans

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – St. Johns County detectives have arrested a third person believed to have been involved in a botched robbery of pot dealers that left a Jacksonville man fatally shot.

Gerald Evans, 18, was booked into the St. Johns County Jail on Thursday on charges of second-degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm.

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He is being held on $350,000 bond.

According to deputies, Evans, 20-year-old Kahlil Cooke, 23-year-old Dalton James Faulkner, and 17-year-old Sarah Mounir Itani planned to meet two men on Old Hickory Forest Road under the guise of buying a pound of marijuana and then rob the pair.

Cooke was shot during the robbery attempt and died later at Baptist South Hospital.

Faulkner and Itani were arrested and charged with non-premeditated murder and robbery, but deputies said neither was the person who fired the fatal shot.

The plan, according to an arrest report, was for Cooke to use a set of brass knuckles supplied by Faulkner to beat the dealers. While the group was inspecting the marijuana, Itani distracted the dealers, and that's when Cooke and Evans started beating them, deputies said. 

During the course of the assault, one of the dealers pulled out an assault rifle and shot Cooke, deputies said. 

Deputies said that Faulkner was charged with tampering with evidence for ditching the brass knuckles. 

According to the arrest report, Cooke's friends took him to the hospital, where he died.

The Sheriff's Office said the shooter left the area in a black, four-door Chevrolet pick-up truck. Deputies are now searching for more information on the whereabouts of that vehicle.

Anyone with information regarding the events from last Saturday afternoon is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at 904-824-8304 or, to be eligible for a cash reward and remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-8477 (TIPS).