Jacksonville families lit candles at Project Cold Case’s Hour of Hope vigil fighting for witnesses to come forward in unsolved murders.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Many families gathered Tuesday at Friendship Fountain, lighting candles and sharing stories of loss during Project Cold Case‘s Hour of Hope vigil as they called for justice in unsolved homicides.
The emotional event was filled with heartfelt pleas from relatives, including Rose Devoe, whose 23-year-old son, Gabriel Devoe, was shot and killed in an Arlington apartment complex parking lot in November 2022.
Gabriel, a Valdosta State University senior studying health care administration and a former standout football player at Paxon School, had returned home for a visit just one semester shy of graduation.
“My son’s blood is crying for justice from the pavement, and someone who knows something can answer that call, and I ask you to do that today,” Devoe said.
She described her son as a “miracle baby” who beat the odds and lit up every room with his energy.
“I didn’t get to have the mother-son dance with my son,” she said. “To see him marry the love of his life, to raise a family. My son was about to graduate from college. He was embarking upon his life. Everything that he’d worked so hard for was taken from him that day.
Devoe directly addressed her son’s killer at the vigil.
“I speak to you murderer,” she said. “This day, I will let you know. You have a freedom expiration date, and it is coming.”
Similar grief echoed from the family of Rashaud Fields, an 18-year-old Raines High School football star with a full scholarship to Keiser University. Fields was shot to death hours after his high school graduation celebration on May 23, 2022, near Pine Estates Road.
“He would always say, one day the whole world would know my name, and never would we ever thought that in death that the whole world would know his name,” one family member told First Coast News.
His family urged witnesses to speak up.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s today or tomorrow if you know something, say something,” the family said.
His mother also read a “letter to our killers,” saying, “I know you see the support of all of us. For me, receiving justice has grown bigger and bigger.”
Families sang together, held a moment of silence and swapped memories of loved ones whose lives were cut short.
Project Cold Case, a nonprofit aiding families of unsolved homicide victims, hosted the event to foster community and healing while pushing for accountability.
Anyone with information on these deaths is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477. Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.