Organized by Free Rashaun Jones

On November 7, 2006, UM star football player Bryan Pata was tragically murdered by an unknown assailant. This was horrifically tragic for the Pata family, his friends, and the community. Numerous leads were followed and abandoned for years until the case went cold.

Fifteen years later, on August 26, 2021, Rashaun Jones was wrongfully arrested and charged with the homicide. The evidence against Rashaun is rumors and one stranger's faulty identification of a man walking away from the scene at night.



On March 3, 2022, Rashaun was granted a bond of $850,000, which requires him to post 10% ($85,000). A financial burden his family cannot bear. He has remained in custody almost 5 years. Missing the lives of his five young children and his wife. His life is frozen in time.

On March 2, 2026, after 5 days of testimony and evidence, the State of Florida failed to meet their burden at trial because Rashaun is innocent. According to reports, five of six jurors voted not guilty, with only one juror holding out, citing a "gut feeling" rather than any evidence of actual guilt. The judge declared a mistrial. 

A mistrial does not mean Rashaun comes home.

Rashaun remains in custody.

We are asking for your help so he can be home with his family and work with his defense team - while the State of Florida gears up to take him to trial yet again for a crime he did not commit.

There is so much that went on behind the scenes of this case. A failure of an investigation by the Miami-Dade Police. An overzealous prosecutor's office. Alternate suspects that were hidden from the jury. And a victim's family that rightfully wants answers and justice. Unfortunately, convicting an innocent man will never give the family the closure they so desire.