SANFORD, Fla. — A man accused of threatening to kill an 11-year-old has cut a plea deal with prosecutors that will let him walk away from jail.
Dwayne Brown is accused of threatening Jeremiah Taylor, who was testifying against a man accused of shooting him in his Sanford neighborhood.
Officials told Channel 9 that they cut the deal with Brown because it's what Taylor wanted, and they had conflicting evidence, which made it a hard case to put in front of a jury.
The plea deal adjudicated Brown guilty of misdemeanor assault. The deal gave him credit only for the 43 days that he already served in jail.
"It sends a very chilling message: 'Don't come forward, don't testify and don't see anything,'" said WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry.
The plea agreement also orders Brown to stay away from Taylor and his mother, neither of whom wanted to participate in the case against the man who accidentally shot him.
Prosecutors urged the Taylors to testify anyway, and in July, Brown's friend, Daquan Butts, was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder.
Brown has been arrested for threatening to kill someone before, and for shooting at another person, Channel 9 learned. Both cases were dropped.