Football star found NOT guilty of manslaughter after his teammate was found shot dead inside his home

Published: 05:46, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 05:47, 3 July 2026 An Arizona man was found not guilty after being charged in the shooting death of his high school football teammate.  Peter Clabron, known as 'PJ', was just 18 when he was arrested for the fatal shooting of Jeremiah Aviles, also 18, at his Mesa home on May 7 2023.  Aviles was described during vigils and memorials as a talented and disciplined athlete with a promising future in football. He died just weeks before graduating high school.  Clabron, now 21, was acquitted on Wednesday of manslaughter, as well as the lesser charge of negligent homicide, and unlawful discharge of a firearm.  The trial, which began on June 9, centered on who was holding the gun when Aviles was shot.  Court documents previously stated Clabron and a witness initially lied to investigators at the time of the death and tried to pin blame upon a person who wasn't in the room at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors argued Clabron recklessly handled a loaded gun while intoxicated and shot Aviles, relying heavily on the testimony of another teen who was in the room. The defense argued that the witness was unreliable and that forensic evidence contradicted his story. On July 1, Peter 'PJ' Clabron was cleared of all charges over the 2023 shooting death of Jeremiah Aviles, an 18-year-old Red Mountain High School football player with college dreams On May 7 2023, within a bedroom at Clabron's residence, a firearm was discharged, fatally striking Aviles, who was just weeks away from graduating high school Emergency crews rushed to the scene shortly before 2am, but upon arrival Aviles was pronounced dead inside the home Jurors deliberated for about an hour before reaching the not guilty verdict on Wednesday. Clabron was overcome with emotion as the verdicts were read, tearing up as the court clerk announced he was not guilty on each charge. The tragedy took place when Aviles was killed in a bedroom at Clabron’s home near Gilbert Road and University Drive in Mesa.   Mesa Police Officers responded to reports of shots fired in a house on the 2300 block of east Camino St.  According to officials the student-athlete was visiting Clabron's home at the time. Aviles, Clabron, and another teen were in one of the home's bedrooms when the shooting took place.  Police initially said Clabron called 911 and reported that a gun 'went off' killing Aviles at the scene and that the person holding the gun had fled. At the center of the prosecution’s case was testimony from Champ Gennicks, the third teen in the room.  Prosecutors said Gennicks eventually emerged with the account after talking to his father and never wavered from the central notion that Clabron shot Aviles. His death sparked vigils, memorials and widespread grief across Mesa, where friends and teammates remembered him as driven, loyal and full of promise. Witness statements shifted multiple times throughout the investigation, and defense lawyers challenged key accounts during trial Much to the dismay of the Aviles family, jurors returned a unanimous verdict: not guilty on all charges Deputy Maricopa County Attorney John Hudson told jurors that Gennicks had little reason to falsely accuse someone he described as a best friend and someone close to Clabron’s family. He told jurors that Clabron was 'fiddling with a gun' when it went off. Then Clabron dropped it. Gennicks added that Clabron looked 'surprised' when the gun was fired. Hudson also pushed back on the defense’s theory that another teen, Hector Hernandez, fired the shot. Hudson argued Hernandez was in the bathroom when the gun went off, later grabbed two guns and fled, but did not take the weapon prosecutors said killed Aviles. This could not be confirmed as Hernandez took his own life in 2025. 'The thing that has never changed,' Hudson told jurors, was that Gennicks said, 'the defendant shot Jeremiah.' Investigators also uncovered video evidence they said showed Clabron handling and pointing a firearm at Aviles prior to the shooting, alongside allegations of reckless gun use in the hours leading up to Aviles’ death. The defense, however, insisted none of it proved who actually fired the fatal shot — and argued the state’s case was underpinned by inconsistent testimony rather than hard forensic certainty. While Clabron now walks free, the trial leaves the most fundamental question still unanswered, exactly what took place inside that bedroom in the early hours of May 7. For Aviles’ loved ones who wasted no time in accusing 18-year-old Clabron at the time, the not guilty verdict marks does not come as closure but another painful chapter in a case that has left lasting grief Gary Nielsen, one of Clabron’s attorneys, repeatedly accused prosecutors of asking jurors to 'jump to conclusions' from insubstantial evidence that did not clearly establish who fired the gun. Nielson rebutted Gennicks’s descriptions of the positioning of the individuals in the room, stating they did not match the autopsy findings, the bullet trajectory or blood-pattern evidence. The attorney honed in on Gennicks's claim that Aviles was shot while facing Clabron, dispelling it pointing to the medical and forensic evidence showing Aviles was in fact shot from behind. Compounding that statement, the defense also pointed to blood evidence on Hernandez’s shorts, the lack of gunshot residue testing, uncollected clothing and questions about whether the firearm could have misfired. Nielsen and Clabron's other attorney Anthony Knowles, concluded that the state had constructed a insufficient selective investigation against Clabron. In 2023, after police made the arrest of Clabron, Aviles family heaped no end of criticism on the boy for not relinquishing and admitting to the manslaughter. 'Had you come forward, this could have been avoided. You've brought so much pain and grief to families, friends, and even your own teammates. You should have been straightforward,' said Omar Sr, Aviles's father to ABC News. Aviles's sister Bethany condemned the incident as 'a betrayal' adding that Clabron was her brothers best friend and someone he thought he could trust. As the verdict was given on July 1, the Aviles’ family appeared distraught. Grief-stricken members of the family sobbed and held each other in the courtroom. They did not comment after the hearing. The Daily Mail has reached out to Clabron as well as the Aviles family for comment.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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