Taylor County man seeking new trial, claiming wrongful conviction

November 17, 2016

PERRY, Fla. (WCTV) -- A Taylor County man serving a life sentence for murder is seeking a new trial. Garrett Arrowood is accused of killing of his aunt, Shelly Strickland in June 2015, but his family says new evidence proves Garrett was wrongly convicted.

His mother, Lisa says the last year and a half has shaken up their entire family, but they hope the new evidence will turn things around. It proves Garrett was in Jacksonville the day prosecutors say Strickland was murdered.

The evidence includes transaction records and pictures of Garrett from a pawn shop in Jacksonville on the morning of June 23. It also includes GPS tracking information that was filed last year, seven months before his conviction, but was not relayed to the defense.

Garrett's mother says all of this information was released to her the day before Garrett's sentencing, and was never included as evidence during his trial.

"It's been a roller coaster actually, that this evidence has always been there, something that we didn't anticipate/ it's really rocked our world for sure," Lisa Arrowood says.

Garrett spent seven months in prison before any other arrests were made and before this information became available to Lisa and her family. She has since gotten a new attorney and a private investigator.

The state attorney, John Weed, was said to have looked into the GPS tracking information but never found anything worth noting. Defense attorney, David Collins says he is determined to get a subpoena for the footage and information proving Arrowood was hours away on the day of the murder.

"I am disappointed in the state’s position, I don’t completely understand it but that’s why we have courts and judges and lawyers to try and figure this thing out,” Collins says.

The other two suspects arrested in this case, Rodney and Manden Whiddon, still remain in jail and are awaiting trial.