JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Last July, Dedric Wesley was charged with killing his girlfriend, Beverly Febres in San Marco -- but those charges were dropped in December.
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Last week we told you Kamaree Singleton was charged with the murder instead.
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Dedric Wesley’s brother and sister say he is still traumatized by the entire ordeal. He lost the love of his life, was betrayed by his best friend, charged with a murder he didn’t commit and even missed holidays with his four-year-old daughter.
Tamara and Ramard Wesley call their brother, D.J. and say he and his girlfriend Beverly Febres had been together for over a year.
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“They were glued to each other’s hips,” D.J.’s sister Tamara said.
Court documents reveal D.J. was with Febres the night she was shot and killed – July 11th of last year. It also says D.J. and Febres were visiting Corey Ellis at Kamaree Singleton’s house. There was also a woman there who got into a fight with Febres. A JSO report reveals that’s when Febres fired a gun, grazing Singleton. Febres then drove off, and D.J. ended up walking home. The next day, detectives told him she was murdered.
“It just broke him because he didn’t know,” Tamara said.
His family claims D.J. was nervous the police were coming after him since all of his belongings were in her car - including his phone. On July 28th, police arrested D.J. for Febres’s murder. So, Ramard began asking questions of Corey Ellis, D.J.’s best friend.
“[Corey] said, ‘man I can’t let my brother sit down there like that I’m going to do the right thing,’” D.J.’s brother Ramard said.
On August 4th, Ramard had a control call with Ellis and a detective. That’s when Ellis confessed he helped dump Febres’s body into Marco Lake after Singleton shot and killed her. In October, Singleton confessed to this too. But it wasn’t until December that D.J.’s charges were dropped.
“That only traumatized him more because he knows he’s innocent, but you all are taking your time,” Tamara said.
Wesley’s arrest warrant says he told police he last saw Febres around 7 pm. Court documents indicate surveillance video captured both of them inside a liquor store around 10:40 that night.
Action News Jax Law and Safety expert Dale Carson has decades of law enforcement experience and says police need substantial evidence to drop charges.
“They were obligated to keep him in custody because they believe he wasn’t telling the truth,” Carson said.
Action News Jax reached out to the state attorney’s office and to JSO about why it took so long to drop his charges. But we still haven’t heard back.
Kamaree Singleton who was charged with Febres’s murder has an arraignment court date set for May 31st. And the state attorney’s office says Wesley is expected to testify against Singleton.
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