JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of people gathered Thursday night at Memorial Park in Riverside to remember 22-year-old Asia Bennett, lighting candles and wearing purple pins to bring attention to domestic violence.
Bennett died after an officer-involved shooting involving the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 11 outside a home on Westdale Drive near Pine Bluff Drive in Arlington.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has said officers were dispatched around 10:45 p.m. for a domestic battery call. In a critical incident briefing, JSO said an officer saw Bennett holding multiple items, including what it described as a “large butcher-style kitchen knife,” and that she refused repeated commands to drop it. JSO says Bennett moved toward an officer and was shot. Body camera video shows Bennett on the ground still talking with officers. JSO says she moved toward officers and was shot again. Bennett was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
(JSO posted the video to its YouTube page. Viewer discretion is advised.)
At Thursday’s vigil, members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and Bennett’s family described the gathering as both a memorial and a call for change.
“Today we are here to celebrate the life of Asia Bennett … we are just here to make sure that the family is supported and just feels that the community is with them,” Kiana Blaylock with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee said.
Blaylock said families can feel isolated after a police shooting.
“It can feel like you’re the little person going up against the big guy.” she said.
Bennett’s aunt, Crystal Gerhold, said the vigil was also meant to highlight the complexity of domestic violence and the challenges families face trying to help someone leave an abusive relationship.
“Anytime you have a family member dealing with domestic violence, I can tell you right now you feel like you are completely alone,” Gerhold said, later adding that Bennett “was stuck in this because of love.”
Gerhold also shared what she hopes people remember most about her niece.
“I’d say … her laugh,” she said.
Family, advocates hold candlelight vigil for Asia Bennett after JSO shooting (WJXT)
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been retained by Bennett’s family, attended and spoke at the vigil. He thanked domestic violence organizations for supporting the family and said the case should raise awareness about domestic violence survivors.
“Asia’s life mattered. Domestic violence survivors — their life matters,” Crump said.
The State Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent investigation.
JSO says that because of expected litigation, they will provide no further comment.
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