Lofton Found Guilty of Aggravated Battery, Attempted Armed Robbery

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Carlos Lofton guilty of Aggravated Battery (Discharge of a Firearm Causing Great Bodily Harm) and Attempted Armed Robbery (Discharge of a Firearm Causing Great Bodily Harm). With the verdict and as a Prison Releasee Reoffender, Lofton faces up to life in Florida State Prison. The Honorable London Kite will sentence Lofton at a later date.  

On Nov. 25, 2023, members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office were called to a Westside laundromat for a shooting. A male victim had been shot in the neck. The victim and his girlfriend drove to a nearby gas station to call 911. The victim’s girlfriend was doing laundry and, as she headed back to her car where the victim was sitting, she saw two men speaking to her boyfriend while he sat in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. One of the men, later identified as Lofton, pointed a gun at the victim, then her, then fired a shot at the victim. The two men hopped in their car and drove off. The victim said the men were trying to rob him. Video surveillance from the laundromat showed Lofton and his co-defendant, who pleaded guilty. Shell casings from the scene matched those of another shooting that happened later in the day that involved Lofton. The firearm used in the shooting at the laundromat was also recovered later next to Lofton.

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Jalisa Curtis-King and Michael Eckhart.