MESA, Ariz. — Wearing a necklace with his son's picture on it, Mark Jacobo keeps his son close to his heart each and every day.

"He was special," he said. "He had a lot of talent."

In November 2022, his 18-year-old son, Stephen, went to a party with friends when he was shot and killed. It's since been a turbulent three years as Jacobo tries to get justice.

"I can't explain the pain I go through," he said. "I get told all the time I'm such a tough man and that's not even the case. If I didn't use my son's strength, my son's life that he put on everybody, I wouldn't be able to be here."

Witnesses identified the shooter as 20-year-old Joe Rim. He was arrested but released when the Maricopa County Attorney's Office sent the case back to Mesa police. Investigators sent it back to MCAO two

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