MESA, AZ — Peter Clabron III was found not guilty in the death of Jeremiah Aviles, a Red Mountain High School football player who was shot and killed in 2023.
Clabron was charged with manslaughter and discharging a firearm in connection with the incident.
The jury deliberated for just an hour, and court paperwork filed on Wednesday states that Clabron was ordered to be released from custody.
The prosecution relied on a key witness who claimed Clabron fired the gun, while the defense argued forensic evidence contradicted this testimony.
See our previous coverage in the video player above.
Eighteen-year-old Jeremiah Aviles was found shot and killed in May 2023 in the Mesa home where his teammate, Clabron, was living.
Court documents state Clabron told 911 operators the gun "went off," and the person with the gun had left. Another witness later went to the police unsolicited and determined that it was not true.
Clabron's defense attorney, Anthony Knowles, said the medical examiner's report and the forensic report didn't match a key witness account given to the Mesa Police Department. That witness died in the fall of 2025.
Knowles said the Mesa Police Department's investigation was "pretty lacking," while the mother of Aviles told ABC15, "Mesa police let us down."
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