{"id":390067,"date":"2026-09-04T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/390067\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T07:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:00:15","slug":"family-advocates-hold-candlelight-vigil-for-asia-bennett-after-jso-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/390067\/","title":{"rendered":"Family, advocates hold candlelight vigil for Asia Bennett after JSO shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Dozens of people gathered Thursday night at Memorial Park in Riverside to remember 22-year-old Asia Bennett, lighting candles and wearing purple pins to bring attention to domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Bennett died after an officer-involved shooting involving the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office on Aug. 11<\/a> outside a home on Westdale Drive near Pine Bluff Drive in Arlington.<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office has said officers were dispatched around 10:45 p.m. for a domestic battery call<\/a>. In a critical incident briefing, JSO said an officer saw Bennett holding multiple items, including what it described as a \u201clarge butcher-style kitchen knife,\u201d and that she refused repeated commands to drop it<\/a>. JSO says Bennett moved toward an officer and was shot. Body camera video shows Bennett on the ground still talking with officers. JSO says she moved toward officers and was shot again. Bennett was taken to a hospital, where she later died.<\/p>\n

(JSO posted the video to its YouTube page<\/a>. Viewer discretion is advised.)<\/p>\n

At Thursday\u2019s vigil, members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and Bennett\u2019s family described the gathering as both a memorial and a call for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are here to celebrate the life of Asia Bennett \u2026 we are just here to make sure that the family is supported and just feels that the community is with them,\u201d Kiana Blaylock with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee said.<\/p>\n

Blaylock said families can feel isolated after a police shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can feel like you\u2019re the little person going up against the big guy.\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bennett\u2019s aunt, Crystal Gerhold, said the vigil was also meant to highlight the complexity of domestic violence and the challenges families face trying to help someone leave an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you have a family member dealing with domestic violence, I can tell you right now you feel like you are completely alone,\u201d Gerhold said, later adding that Bennett \u201cwas stuck in this because of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerhold also shared what she hopes people remember most about her niece.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say \u2026 her laugh,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Family, advocates hold candlelight vigil for Asia Bennett after JSO shooting (WJXT)<\/p>\n

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been retained by Bennett\u2019s family<\/a>, attended and spoke at the vigil. He thanked domestic violence organizations for supporting the family and said the case should raise awareness about domestic violence survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsia\u2019s life mattered. Domestic violence survivors \u2014 their life matters,\u201d Crump said.<\/p>\n

The State Attorney\u2019s Office is conducting an independent investigation.<\/p>\n

JSO says that because of expected litigation, they will provide no further comment.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Dozens of people gathered Thursday night at Memorial Park in Riverside to remember 22-year-old Asia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2335,116,118,117,1872],"class_list":["post-390067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-ben-crump","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390067","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=390067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}