ORLANDO, Fla. – A 17-year-old is facing charges for murder and attempted murder after a deadly mass shooting in downtown Orlando, but authorities say his first offense was a grand theft auto case last year.
News 6 met with Dartanyan Bright; the man who says his car was stolen by Jaylen Edgar last November. His 2020 Nissan was parked outside of his apartment in east Orange County and disappeared overnight.
“My fiancé was going out to my vehicle, and she ended up knocking my spare key off of the key ring and it ended up laying in front of my door,” said Bright. “I came out in the morning to take my children to school, and my car was gone.”
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Bright reported it to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and an incident report obtained by News 6 shows deputies quickly located the car parked in the back of Vista Haven Apartments. While doing surveillance, detectives saw a teen matching Edgar’s description get into the driver’s seat. According to the report, they followed the car to Curry Ford Road and when it parked again, they conducted a traffic stop and arrested Edgar.
Bright says his car was in good shape for the most part. His kid’s car seats were left in the trunk along with some karate equipment. He says there was some damage to the brakes.
“I had to replace my brakes and change the rotors on the vehicle because I guess he went for a nice little joy ride,” said Bright.
Bright says the matter was resolved very quickly. He reported his car stolen that morning and by noon he had his car back and he made it to work on time.
“Yeah, yeah it was pretty quick,” said Bright. “Orange County did a phenomenal job.”
Since Edgar was under 18, the case was handled in juvenile court.
Bright says he went to a hearing and claims Edgar would be enrolled in a diversion program. It’s common practice for young offenders. The State Attorney’s Office works with the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court to offer alternatives to hold young people accountable without serving time in a detention center.
Most of the programs in the Ninth Judicial Circuit require young offenders to adhere to a curfew, undergo counseling and mentoring, and learn life skills, according to the State Attorney’s Office website.
But Bright claims he was told that Edgar never completed the program.
“I was contacted actually today by Orange County letting me know that they are going to fully press charges for the grand theft auto that occurred in November because he didn’t do the program, and they didn’t have any file of him doing the program,” said Bright. “He was supposed to, obviously, attend school and then go through the program which would get his life back on track. However, he didn’t participate in any of that, didn’t do any of the programs, and was back on the streets like if nothing ever happened.”
Bright said he didn’t find out until after Halloween and he has questions about what happened.
“My main concern as somebody who lives in Orange County and cares about the safety of everybody around here is kind of like, how does somebody like that never face any charges? And then, Orange County’s part is how didn’t we go apprehend him? Or why aren’t we following up with youth like that?” asked Bright.
News 6 followed up with the State Attorney’s Office Friday. We asked for records and answers and received the following response from a spokesperson, “The case is still open and ongoing so we are unable to comment at this time to maintain its integrity.”
Bright says he was understanding of the situation at first, but he wonders if something could have been done.
“I know, at first, I did want to give this — because he is a child — the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to say, ‘Hey, people make stupid decisions.’ Stealing a car is a stupid decision, but at the end of the day that doesn’t mean his whole life should be thrown away because of it,” said Bright. “Regardless of what he took that day he didn’t take a life from me. I know that I can go home and see my children, but for those other family members, my prayers do go out to them.”
Edgar’s grand theft auto case is now being handled in adult court, along with the downtown shooting case.
He is currently at the Orange County Jail where he is being held without bond.
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