{"id":232604,"date":"2026-04-15T11:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/232604\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T11:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:54:08","slug":"jacksonville-man-accused-of-fatally-shooting-2-year-old-boy-returns-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/232604\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville man accused of fatally shooting 2-year-old boy returns to court"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville man accused of fatally shooting a 2-year old boy<\/a> is expected to make another court appearance on Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n

Steven Dodson Jr., 21, was taken into custody less than 24 hours after investigators said he shot and killed A\u2019hmari Robinson during a domestic dispute<\/a> on March 24, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

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

According to the redacted arrest report, Dodson was found in an apartment in the Grand Park neighborhood. <\/p>\n

The report said the situation started as an argument over the phone. Moments after that, witnesses said the hear a gunshot and then saw Dodson run from the scene.<\/p>\n

At the bond hearing, the judge noted Dodson\u2019s unusual absence from the proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Dodson is not in the court today, but his case is,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

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

RELATED: \u2018Happiest baby\u2019: Family identifies 2-year-old boy killed during dispute at Westside apartment complex<\/a><\/p>\n

As the judge read off Dodson\u2019s charges, emotions from A\u2019hmari\u2019s family spilled outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n

\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

Another family member added: \u201cWe is hurting, \u2018cause that baby didn\u2019t deserve none of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the case moved forward, the child\u2019s family leaned on the community as they grieved an unimaginable loss, and the Silent Women Speaking Foundation stepped in to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to bring Mom to an angel Mom support group. We will be doing grief coaching for her. And right now, we\u2019re just taking care of the basic needs that she needs right now, showing love and support,\u201d Haraka Carswell said.<\/p>\n

The family also started a GoFundMe account<\/a> to help A\u2019mahri\u2019s family after the tragic loss.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville man accused of fatally shooting a 2-year old boy is expected to make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[265,116,118,117,1872],"class_list":["post-232604","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\/232604","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=232604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}