{"id":122118,"date":"2026-01-17T17:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T17:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/122118\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T17:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T17:45:07","slug":"jacksonville-mother-honoring-son-who-was-murdered-9-years-ago-through-act-of-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/122118\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville mother honoring son who was murdered 9 years ago through act of kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A mother, who lost her son almost nine years ago<\/a>, is transforming her grief into acts of service to help others.<\/p>\n

RELATED: JSO hopes renewed interest will help find killer in unsolved shooting of 18-year-old in 2017<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is on my heart to do it,\u201d Latasha Hobbs said. \u201cThis is what Maurice has led me to do. Anything I say is in light of my son. Anything I do is in honor of Maurice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latasha Hobbs (Left) and her son, Maurice (Right). Maurice was 18 years old when he was killed in 2017. (Photo Courtesy: Latasha Hobbs)<\/p>\n

Hobbs is helping a young father advance his career as a merchant mariner. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaurice was a poet,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cHe was a music artist, he was talented, he was gifted, he was a jokester. He was a jack of all trades. He loved his city and he loves his community.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is how Latasha Hobbs lovingly talks about her son.<\/p>\n

January is an emotionally challenging month for her. <\/p>\n

Maurice Hobbs turned 18 years old on January 24, 2017.
\nTwo days later, he was shot and killed in Jacksonville\u2019s Southside Estates neighborhood. (Photo Courtesy: Latasha Hobbs)<\/p>\n

Maurice Hobbs turned 18 years old on January 24, 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two days later, he was shot and killed in Jacksonville\u2019s Southside Estates neighborhood. <\/a><\/p>\n

His murder remains unsolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also have chosen a path to honor his legacy and honor his life by giving back to my community,\u201d Hobbs said. <\/p>\n

That path led to Mayport and the St. Johns River Ferry.<\/p>\n

Jorge Avila Molina is a deckhand. His job includes directing traffic and making sure vehicles are parked safely on the ferry. (Photo Courtesy: Jorge Avila Molina)<\/p>\n

Jorge Avila Molina is a deckhand. His job includes directing traffic and making sure vehicles are parked safely on the ferry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up enjoying the line of work that I do,\u201d Molina said. \u201cBeing outside, working with my hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molina is 34 years old and has an 11-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n

Molina is 34 years old and has an 11-year-old daughter. (Photo Courtesy: Jorge Avila Molina)<\/p>\n

He is ready to advance his career in being a merchant mariner by becoming what is called an able body seaman. Molina says it is a job that could quadruple his salary. <\/p>\n

However, there is is a mandatory class<\/a> he has to take in order to reach that goal.<\/p>\n

The ferry is how Molina\u2019s and Hobbs\u2019 paths crossed.<\/p>\n

They met and became friends as Hobbs travels on the ferry often.<\/p>\n

Hobbs and Molina met, and became friends as Hobbs travels on the ferry often. (Photo Courtesy: Latasha Hobbs)<\/p>\n

Once she heard about Molina\u2019s goals, Hobbs said she wanted to help him achieve that. <\/p>\n

Hobbs launched a campaign on Facebook<\/a> to help get funding to pay for Molina\u2019s class. <\/p>\n

It\u2019 costs $875 dollars for him to complete the course in February that should take a week.<\/p>\n

If you feel compelled to contribute, you have some time and there are a few ways to do that:<\/p>\n

Venmo: @Latasha-Hobbs32<\/p>\n

Cashapp: $Mauricestrong32<\/p>\n

Please wrote \u201cseamen\u201d in note section.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of took me by surprise,\u201d Molina said of Hobbs offering to help him. \u201cBecause people say they want to help you all the time, but you do not want to be a burden or hindrance to other people\u2019s lives. You also do not want to miss out on a blessing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a very hard worker,\u201d Hobbs said of Molina. \u201cHe really is. He is always in good spirits. He deserves his hand up to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis story just really touched my heart and this is Maurice\u2019s birthday month,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cIn light of Maurice, I really wanted to do something meaningful to help someone. What better way to do that then to help a young father become successful and in return and be able to get back to his community?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maurice Hobbs turned 18 years old on January 24, 2017.
\nTwo days later, he was shot and killed in Jacksonville\u2019s Southside Estates neighborhood. (Photo Courtesy: Latasha Hobbs)<\/p>\n

Hobbs says helping improve the lives of others is what she is called to do since her son\u2019s life was cut short. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A mother, who lost her son almost nine years ago, is transforming her grief into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,116,118,117,1415,1872],"class_list":["post-122118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-duval-county","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville-sheriffs-office","tag-jso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}