November 7, 2025
PRESS RELEASE:
On November 6, 2025, a Santa Rosa County jury found Ja’Cobey James guilty of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm. Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge Clifton Drake scheduled a sentencing hearing for January 20, 2026. Ja’Cobey James faces a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty-five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
On June 19, 2023, Joseph Liebe was driving home from work and stopped at the Tom Thumb gas station in Molino. Mr. Liebe left the gas station and unbeknownst to him, was followed by the defendant Ja’Cobey James and two other men in a Chevrolet Tahoe. The men had observed Mr. Liebe at the gas station and believed that he had cash on his person. Mr. Liebe eventually turned onto Wallace Lake Road and pulled to the side of the road after the vehicle following him flashed its lights at him. The Tahoe pulled up beside Mr. Liebe’s vehicle and Ja’Cobey James stepped out of the passenger seat. Ja’Cobey James pulled out a firearm and fired ten shots at Mr. Liebe’s vehicle as Mr. Liebe attempted to drive away.
The arrest and investigation were conducted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Mark Alderman prosecuted the case on behalf of Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida. For more information, please contact Mr. Alderman at (850) 981-5500.
