GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A man who was extradited from South Carolina in March for a parole violation charge that could have resulted in a 30-year prison sentence has been released.

According to court records filed June 14, Jerry Fred Daniels, 20, was given credit for 90 days he recently spent in the Clay County Jail and was released to be back with his family in Conway, South Carolina.

Daniels was 16 when he was arrested in 2012 in connection with the shooting death of Clay County Sheriff’s Office detective David White. Daniels was in a home at 4874 Alligator Blvd. in Middleburg the night of February 6, 2012 when Ted Arthur Tilley and detective David White were killed during an exchange of gunfire.

Daniels was originally charged with one count of third degree murder and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell and distribute. Daniels entered a plea agreement on June 3, 2015 and was sentenced to five years on probation instead of face a trial planned for Aug. 3, 2015. It was also at that point he was released from the local jail and moved to live with a grandparent in South Carolina. While the investigation showed Daniels did not shoot White, Florida law allows murder charges to be filed against other suspects who were present while a felony was committed.

Assistant Public Defender Cynthia Cook argued that the court is not bound “by guidelines on a violation of probation and that the Court can continue a Defendant on probation, regardless of sentencing guidelines,” states court papers.

Cook also argued that Daniels, who is an expectant father, is trying to turn his life around and will enroll in technical school in the fall. He also obtained his GED while in jail.

“He is going to be a father, and is determined to give that child a better life than the one that he had,” states Cook’s sentencing memorandum to the courts.

Daniels has also agreed to seek help for a mental health disorder saying Daniels was “amenable to treatment” and should participate in a support group such as Narcotics Anonymous. But, Cook also pled with the court reiterating Daniels’ limited role in White’s death.

“The Court is well-aware that Defendant was a 16-year-old child, living with his mother and her paramour, and that he was in his bedroom at the time of the shooting,” court documents state. “Detective White was killed by Ted Tilley, and Ted Tilley was then killed by police. Defendant was charged differently than the others and treated differently as a result of his age and his limited involvement.”

Under terms of the 2015 plea agreement signed by Fourth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Don H. Lester, Daniels pled guilty to one count each of manslaughter, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of codeine. In the document, he also agreed to not engage in criminal activity or associate with others engaged in criminal activity.

The Newberry County, S.C. Sheriff’s Office arrested Daniels on Feb. 20, 2016 for one count each of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, therefore breaking grounds of his Clay County plea deal. Shortly after the arrest, South Carolina probation officials notified Florida probation officials regarding the violation and a warrant was issued for Daniels’ arrest.

According to the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, Daniels was a passenger in an SUV that had stopped at a Citgo gas station on South Carolina Highway121 in Newberry on Feb. 20. According to the probation violation report, South Carolina deputies came onto the scene and witnessed the driver and another man arguing with a woman who told police she wanted to stop because they had been driving all night.

“The male subject stated the female got out of the car anyway and took the car keys making him angry, therefore they began to argue all over the Citgo parking lot,” states the report.

When deputies searched the car, they seized 3.1 grams of cannabis, a marijuana pipe and a second plastic bag containing five whole Xanax pills along with multiple broken pieces of the anti-anxiety drug located on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. Police said all four people denied knowledge of the marijuana and pills.

“The offender is 20 years old, and still has not learned from his actions,” writes Stacy Francisco, senior probation officer. “His current charges are drug charges, he still associates himself with individuals involved in criminal activity, therefore showing complete disrespect to the court system, as well as to the family of the victim. The defendant’s supervision should be revoked and he should be sentenced to the maximum prison sentenced allowed.”

Daniels was in a home at 4874 Alligator Blvd. in Middleburg the night of February 6, 2012 when Ted Arthur Tilley and detective David White were killed during an exchange of gunfire. Evidence showed Tilley was cooking methamphetamine in the home in which he and his girlfriend, Chasity Elaine Prescott, 38, of Middleburg, had been squatting, uninvited by the home’s owner. Prescott – Daniels’ mother – entered a plea agreement March 2, 2015 and was given three 50-year sentences.

After Daniels’ 2015 plea agreement hearing in Clay County, he went to live in Conway, S.C. with one of his grandparents while his five-year probation was transferred to authorities in South Carolina.