MIDDLETOWN — Police have arrested suspects in connection with Benny Barefield's murder, but they were later released from custody and all charges were dropped.
Barefield's family says this is why they're marching.
On Saturday, Barefield's family and friends gathered to march, demanding justice for the murder victim.
Barefield was found shot in a vehicle in December 2018.
"At first it made me angry," said Annie Booker, Barefield's mother. "That was my first feeling, and then, because I know they're so young, I had to start praying for them, because I do have children, grandchildren their age."
Police previously arrested three other possible suspects, and Middletown police investigators filed an arrest warrant for Fitzgerald shortly after. Since their arrests, however, the three possible suspects have been released from custody, and the charges previously filed against them have been dropped.
A 17-year-old accused of being connected to the shooting was released from the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center. Quanteriaus Keith was released from jail as well. A third suspect, Dwight Bailey III, remains in jail on unrelated charges, but the aggravated murder charge previously held against him has since been dismissed.
Most recently, the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team arrested Daniel Fitzgerald on an outstanding warrant from Middletown Municipal Court Wednesday morning, according to U.S. Marshal Pete Tobin.
