A Jacksonville mom is calling for accountability after her 13-year-old daughter was shot in the chest while hanging out at a park Friday night.
“I just want justice for my baby,” she said. The girl’s mom asked First Coast News not to use her name.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to Benedict Road close to 8:30 p.m. Friday after receiving calls. They found the teenager suffering from a gunshot wound.
JSO Sgt. Sembach said the girl, the suspect, and several witnesses were all hanging out together near Benedict and Moncrief roads when, at some point, the suspect pulled a gun from his waistband and shot her. The suspect, a teenage boy, stayed at the scene and was taken into custody. Officers also recovered the gun.
The girl’s mom said her daughter, a rising eighth grader and her only child, told on Friday that she was headed to the park, something she often does with friends.
“I love her, that’s my baby, that’s my heart right there,” she said.
The moment she got the call is one she said she will never forget.
“It was a nightmare when I got the phone call saying she’s been shot in her chest. It was a nightmare for me, but you know, God… spared my daughter to see another day, and she’s a very lucky kid, and I’m a very lucky mom.”
The suspect is now charged with aggravated battery. The mom said that’s not enough.
“That’s not right, and I’m gonna fight more to get justice because he could have killed my daughter.”
She tells us her injured daughter is now able to talk and is scheduled for surgery on Saturday.
Cases like this one are exactly what worry Youth Pastor Chavez Williams with Household of Faith Church. His church is near where the shooting happened. Williams said he grew up as a self-described troubled youth in Jacksonville before earning his doctorate and dedicating his life to mentoring young boys and men in the community.
“I was kind of like a troubled youth,” Williams said.
He said the way kids resolve conflict today looks nothing like it did when he was growing up.
“It wasn’t right, but back in the day we fought our way through things; these days, they wanna pull out guns. They want to really harm you. They wanna take you out.”
Williams believes the root of the problem runs deeper than most people realize, and that the solution starts with how young people are treated, not punished.
“Its low self-esteem is going on in these young adults. So if we can build them up, if we can speak into their life, not continue to fuss at them, beat them, do negative, negative things towards them, I think it’ll get better.”
Detectives with JSO’s Robbery and Violent Crime Unit are still canvassing the area for surveillance video and following up on leads. Anyone with information is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.