{"id":67480,"date":"2025-12-02T04:12:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67480\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T04:12:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:12:13","slug":"mother-of-18-year-old-killed-in-burger-king-shooting-shares-heartbreak-what-she-wants-sons-legacy-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67480\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of 18-year-old killed in Burger King shooting shares heartbreak, what she wants son\u2019s legacy to be"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Matthew Jackson\u2019s family moved back to Jacksonville in March. Just eight months later, the 18-year-old Riverside High School senior was gunned down Nov. 22 while working at a Westside Burger King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The senseless violence left his family reeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI beat myself up knowing that if I probably would have stayed where I was, my son probably still would be alive,\u201d Jackson\u2019s mother, Natasha Jackson, told News4JAX.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Press play above to watch Aleesia Hatcher\u2019s full interview with Natasha Jackson<\/p>\n

She said the loss has hit Matthew\u2019s twin the hardest because she knew the night her brother died that something was not right.<\/p>\n

She came home and told her mother she just knew something was off with Matthew. He wasn\u2019t answering his phone.<\/p>\n

Natasha tried to call him, too. No answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is very, very unusual. He always answers for us,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

Then, the time Matthew normally would make it home from his Burger King shift came — and went.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother\u2019s intuition kicked in,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Unbearable\u2019<\/p>\n

She headed straight for the fast-food restaurant on Blanding Boulevard near Collins Road, where Matthew had been working that night.<\/p>\n

She stopped in her tracks when she saw the red and white striped crime scene tape around the store.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Arrest made in fatal Saturday night shooting at Westside Burger King<\/a><\/p>\n

She managed to get the attention of investigators, saying her son was in the store and wasn\u2019t accounted for. They asked her for any identifying marks Matthew might have.<\/p>\n

They went into the store, and when they came back out, she learned the awful news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned on the scene that my son passed away,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

She said she was in shock and that it was a bad dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnbearable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Community support<\/p>\n

She later found out her son was shot after intervening in a fight between two other men inside the store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 18-year-old shot, killed when he tried to stop fight while working at Westside Burger King, report reveals<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that kind of brings me peace is knowing that that\u2019s what he was at his core. He was a protector. He was full of love,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I just want my baby back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since news of Matthew\u2019s death, the community\u2019s outpouring of support has overwhelmed the Jackson family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartwarming,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cThe prayers, the support is really what\u2019s keeping me going.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s impossible to wrap her son up into one word because he was \u201ceverything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never met a stranger. Every time he walked into a room he lit up,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

She is inviting the community to a vigil for Matthew at 5 p.m. Friday at T.S. Warden Funeral Home on North Main Street. She said his funeral at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at the same location is also open to the community.<\/p>\n

A life cut short<\/p>\n

Natasha Jackson said Matthew loved his family, especially his twin sister \u2013 who was just 4 minutes older than Matthew.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always trying to find a way to take care of us,\u201d Natasha said. <\/p>\n

Matthew was set to join the Marines after graduating from Riverside High School in the spring. His older brother already serves in the Army.<\/p>\n

High school senior killed in shooting at Westside Burger King was set to join Marines after graduation, mom says<\/a><\/p>\n

She said their family was prepared for a Marines vs. Army rivalry between the brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cut so short,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cWe\u2019re devastated and heartbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the gunman who killed her son \u201ctook a piece of my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to get up some days,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cI know that I have to keep pushing because I have those other children.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s also hard because of the bright future ahead of Matthew<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: \u2018Big dreams and a bright future\u2019: Family, friends mourn Riverside High senior killed in shooting at Burger King<\/a><\/p>\n

His goal after serving in the Marines was to own a food truck, Natasha said.<\/p>\n

Now, she wants to start a foundation in his honor to help other youth pursue their dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was really big on changing the narrative of the peers around him,\u201d Natasha said. <\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s calling on the Jacksonville community to learn from Matthew\u2019s example.<\/p>\n

\u201cJacksonville, if you want change, it starts within yourself,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way things like this won\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Matthew Jackson\u2019s family moved back to Jacksonville in March. Just eight months later, the 18-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[36895,502,116,118,117,35671,35674],"class_list":{"0":"post-67480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-burger-king-shooting","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-matthew-jackson","14":"tag-riverside-high-school"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67480","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=67480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}