Mistrial declared in case of shooting of Nash deputy

Nash Sheriff Keith Stone says a mistrial has been declared in the trial of Jarred Ford, charged with shooting a Nash County Sheriff's Deputy during a traffic stop in February 2021.

Posted 5:59 p.m. Jan 25, 2023 — Updated 11:24 p.m. Jan 25, 2023

Keenan Willard

, WRAL reporter

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — A mistrial was declared on Wednesday for the man charged with wounding a Nash County deputy during a shootout on I-95. Jarred Ford was facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon from the incident that was caught on video in February of 2021.

Closing arguments were made on Tuesday, and the jury went to deliberate for “a short time,” Nash Sheriff Keith Stone said, before coming back out Wednesday morning before the mistrial was declared.

“I have no idea what happened,” Stone said of the mistrial.

District Attorney Jeff Marsigli says the case will “most likely” be retried, with his office planning to select a new prosecutor to try it for the state.

"If they had a solid case, they wouldn’t have had a mistrial. It wouldn’t have been a hung jury," Ford's father, Jake Ford, told WRAL News. "I’m sure at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, my son will be vindicated."

Ford represented himself in the trial, as he did in a federal trial where he was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon.

'I shot the deputy': Florida man admits he shot Nash County deputy while in court for firearms charge

'I shot the deputy'

Ford, 34, of St. Petersburg, Florida, admitted to the shooting on the stand in federal court. "I pulled out my firearm and fired four or five times," Ford said. "I shot the deputy."

It took that jury 12 minutes to return a guilty verdict and sentence him to up to 10 years in prison.

“I think the big moment was the confession on the stand,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of NC Aakash Singh.

Speeding stop turns shooting

Prosecutors said deputy Shelby Smith pulled over Ford for speeding in February 2021 on Interstate 95 while he was traveling from New York to Florida.

During her testimony, Smith said she was initially planning to write Ford a warning before smelling the odor of marijuana in his vehicle.

Smith said she called for backup and asked Ford to step out of the vehicle. Dashcam video from both officers’ units that was showed in the courtroom displayed Deputy William Toney arriving on the scene shortly after.

On Toney’s body camera video, Smith could be heard asking Ford if he had marijuana on him. Ford replied that he had marijuana in the car.

The video showed Smith and Toney move to detain Ford, who struggled against them before producing a handgun from his waistband on his left side.

Dashcam video from Toney’s unit showed the deputies and Ford move off camera, where multiple gunshots rang out. Both deputies could then be seen coming back into frame, with Toney bleeding profusely, saying “I’ve been shot.”

Toney was shot in both arms and the hip, and his injuries forced him into retirement. Smith said she returned fire against Ford, who was shot seven times in the incident.

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