{"id":204410,"date":"2026-03-24T20:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204410\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:29:08","slug":"accused-shooter-in-death-of-2-year-old-boy-denied-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204410\/","title":{"rendered":"Accused shooter in death of 2-year-old boy denied bond"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville man was denied bond Tuesday after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/24\/jso-arrests-21-year-old-man-accused-of-fatally-shooting-2-year-old-at-apartment-complex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/24\/jso-arrests-21-year-old-man-accused-of-fatally-shooting-2-year-old-at-apartment-complex\/\">being arrested and charged<\/a> in the shooting death of a 2-year-old boy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Steven Dodson Jr., 21, was taken into custody less than 24 hours after investigators said he shot and killed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/23\/2-year-old-fatally-shot-during-domestic-dispute-at-westside-apartment-complex-jso\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/23\/2-year-old-fatally-shot-during-domestic-dispute-at-westside-apartment-complex-jso\/\">A\u2019hmari Robinson during a domestic dispute<\/a> late Sunday night, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The shooting occurred at Valencia Way Apartments, where investigators said a gun went off during a domestic argument, striking Robinson. Dodson then fled the scene, triggering a manhunt that ended with his arrest around midnight Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">At Tuesday\u2019s bond hearing, the judge noted Dodson\u2019s unusual absence from the proceedings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cMr. Dodson is not in the court today, but his case is,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Court records reviewed showed Dodson has had prior arrests over the past three years on charges including strong-arm robbery, domestic battery, and other offenses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/23\/happiest-baby-family-identifies-2-year-old-boy-killed-during-dispute-at-westside-apartment-complex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/03\/23\/happiest-baby-family-identifies-2-year-old-boy-killed-during-dispute-at-westside-apartment-complex\/\">\u2018Happiest baby\u2019: Family identifies 2-year-old boy killed during dispute at Westside apartment complex<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">As the judge read off Dodson\u2019s charges, emotions from A\u2019hmari\u2019s family spilled outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cPain. Anger and pain. Pain hurt,\u201d one family member said. \u201cAnd then we already getting fake pages just texting us and threatening. People want to fight my sister. Y\u2019all don\u2019t even know what she\u2019s going through. Y\u2019all don\u2019t know what she went through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Another family member added: \u201cWe is hurting, \u2018cause that baby didn\u2019t deserve none of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Dodson remains in custody. His next court date is set for April 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The family also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-lay-amahri-robinson-to-rest?attribution_id=sl:b33e9891-8a23-43bd-a4d5-7106e8b08829&amp;lang=en_US&amp;ts=1774297774&amp;utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&amp;utm_content=amp17_te-amp20_t1&amp;utm_medium=customer&amp;utm_source=native_options\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-lay-amahri-robinson-to-rest?attribution_id=sl:b33e9891-8a23-43bd-a4d5-7106e8b08829&amp;lang=en_US&amp;ts=1774297774&amp;utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&amp;utm_content=amp17_te-amp20_t1&amp;utm_medium=customer&amp;utm_source=native_options\">started a GoFundMe account<\/a> to help A\u2019mahri\u2019s family after the tragic loss.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville man was denied bond Tuesday after being arrested and charged in the shooting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[265,116,118,117,1872],"class_list":["post-204410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-crime","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204410","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=204410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}