{"id":410878,"date":"2026-09-26T01:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T01:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410878\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T01:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T01:14:11","slug":"mother-of-teen-killed-at-burger-king-turns-grief-into-purpose-foundation-launches-first-care-package-outreach-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410878\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of teen killed at Burger King turns grief into purpose: Foundation launches first care package outreach event"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Ten months after her teenage son was shot and killed while trying to break up a fight at his workplace at Burger King<\/a>, a Jacksonville mother is launching the first community outreach event for a foundation she built in his name and honor. <\/p>\n

Natasha Jackson will distribute 100 care packages to Jacksonville residents in need Saturday, September 26th at noon, marking the first solo public event for the Matthew\u2019s Legacy of Light Foundation<\/a>, which she founded in June.<\/p>\n

Her son, Matthew Jackson, 18, was killed Nov. 22, 2025, at a Burger King restaurant on Blanding Boulevard in Jacksonville. According to a Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office, Matthew was working his shift when he attempted to intervene in a physical altercation between two men inside the restaurant. He was shot and died near the rear drive-thru window.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Mother of senior fatally shot at Westside Burger King accepts his high school diploma<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew was a senior at Riverside High School and had been scheduled to be sworn into the U.S. Marines the week following his death. A 28-year-old man, Dawud Burritt<\/a>, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection with the shooting.<\/p>\n

Natasha Jackson said her son\u2019s lifelong desire to help others inspired the foundation\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my son was alive, we would always get together and drive around and take care of the less fortunate anyway,\u201d said Natasha Jackson. \u201cSo his dream was always to be that person, be their liaison and to look for ways to give back to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Matthew\u2019s Legacy of Light Foundation focuses on gun violence advocacy, mental health awareness, and youth support. Jackson said she hopes the foundation will eventually operate out of a dedicated facility where young people can access resources and mentorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope someone sees my vision to where I can have a facility so those children can actually have a place,\u201d she said. \u201cSo now they have that person within that place that they can come to \u2014 to get them off the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson said gun violence prevention is central to the foundation\u2019s work, particularly for young people who lack structured support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when you take matters into your own hands, either somebody dies or you go to jail,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat can we do to keep you from going to Z when we need to go to A? I\u2019m trying to build that foundation so that those kids know \u2014 hey, I see you, I hear you, and I am here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson acknowledged the emotional weight of building an organization while grieving, saying she has approached the process incrementally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just one day at a time, one program at a time, one initiative at a time, and one step at a time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s care package giveaway will be held at 525 North Noonan St. in Jacksonville beginning at noon. The event is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Ten months after her teenage son was shot and killed while trying to break up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33666,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-410878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-community-outreach","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410878","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=410878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}