{"id":153997,"date":"2026-02-13T04:45:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T04:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153997\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T04:45:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T04:45:23","slug":"jacksonville-parents-call-for-safer-streets-after-son-hit-and-killed-by-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153997\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville parents call for safer streets after son hit and killed by truck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At 9:03 AM on Monday, Erick Solomon and Miranda Capers lost their son in a crash. His name was De\u2019Juan Solomon, known as \u201cDae-Dae\u201d to his parents, who said he was also their best friend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt\u2019s been unreal,\u201d said Capers, Solomon\u2019s mother, \u201cit\u2019s like a nightmare I wish I could wake up from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Florida Highway Patrol said Solomon was walking across Martin Luther King Junior Parkway using the Fairfax Street crosswalk when the crash happened. FHP said Solomon had almost crossed the street when a truck tractor driving in the right lane went through the intersection and hit him. He died in the crash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">FHP hasn\u2019t shared whether the truck driver is facing any charges, ran a red light or was speeding at the time of the crash. But Solomon\u2019s parents believe speeding is an issue along Martin Luther King Junior Parkway, particularly around the bend before Fairfax Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cYou don\u2019t realize you got a crosswalk there until you get out of that turn, and by that time it is pretty much too late,\u201d said Erick Solomon, De\u2019Juan\u2019s father.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Solomon is the second person who has died while walking across this intersection in less than a year. Action News Jax told you in May 2025 when FHP reported a woman died after being hit by a car while walking the same crosswalk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Martin Luther King Junior Parkway is maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation, which currently has more than 30 projects underway in Duval County. We reached out to FDOT asking, because of the pedestrian deaths along the road, if it may consider future safety-related projects at or near the Fairfax Street intersection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">[DOWNLOAD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">FDOT sent us a statement saying in part:<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOur hearts break whenever we learn of a fatality or serious injury on the roadway. To that end, reviewing crash reports is critical to understanding crash causes and prevention. Since the crash that occurred recently is still pending investigation, questions about the crash should be directed to law enforcement. As is standard operating procedure, FDOT reviews all reported crashes on state roadways and interstates \u2013 a special emphasis is placed on fatalities and crashes with injuries. If improvements are identified that could enhance the safety of the roadway, FDOT will work to implement them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For Solomon\u2019s parents, who describe him as a man who loved gaming, wrestling and his family, they told Action News Jax nothing will ever make up for the loss of someone with as big of a heart as his.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI\u2019m waiting for him to walk through the door and he\u2019s just not,\u201d Capers said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you\u2019d like to support Solomon\u2019s family during this time, you can do so by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/in-memory-of-dejuan-solomons-kindness\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:clicking here.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">clicking here. <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">[SIGN UP: <a href=\"https:\/\/membercenter.actionnewsjax.com\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:click here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/video\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:click here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 9:03 AM on Monday, Erick Solomon and Miranda Capers lost their son in a crash. His name&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,74264,74265,1056,116,118,117,74263,4440],"class_list":{"0":"post-153997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-erick-solomon","10":"tag-fairfax-street","11":"tag-fhp","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","14":"tag-jacksonville-news","15":"tag-martin-luther-king-junior","16":"tag-parents"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153997","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=153997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}