JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville's violent start to 2017 continued in February, which nearly matched January's total with a dozen homicides in Duval County.
February saw 12 people killed in Jacksonville, including a 5-year-old girl and a 48-year-old grandmother. That total is one more than the number of homicides in February in 2016.
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Below, we have listed the victims' names, ages, and the information surrounding their deaths. We have also included a photo of each victim, where available.
Many of the cases remain unsolved. If you have information about any of these crimes, call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
Saturday, Feb. 4
Serenity, 5
Serenity was shot accidentally by her 8-year-old brother, and the bullet also wounded a 4-year-old neighbor. The children had been left home alone at the Roosevelt Gardens apartments on Eighth Street while Serenity's mother went to a store. The boy found the gun in a clothes basket in his mother's bedroom. The boyfriend of Serenity's mother, Maurice Mobley, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the shooting. Police said Mobley, a registered sexual predator, brought the gun to the apartment.
Monday, Feb. 6
Kyle Simpson, 50
Simpson was shot and killed in front of his home on Native Dancer Court in Oceanway after he walked in on two men burglarizing his home. The two men were seen on surveillance video driving away in a 2010 black Ford Escape that police later tracked down at a house on Tory Place. Maleek Williams, 19, was charged with murder and armed burglary in the shooting. The second man, 19-year-old Perty Mathis, was charged in November. The two are believed to be connected to a string of burglaries in the area the same day as the shooting, police said.
Monday, Feb. 6
Jerome Allen, 22
Allen was shot and killed on West 5th Street by undercover narcotics detective Bryan Turner, with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Police said Allen pointed a replica handgun through the open passenger window of a car with three undercover officers inside and Turner fired seven shots, hitting Allen in the chest and arm. Allen died at the hospital. Ronnie Brown, 57, was involved in the undercover cocaine buy that led to the shooting and is facing drug charges. Turner and his partners, Lance Griffis and Kyle Kvies, were not injured but were later arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy, after police said they removed beer cans from the vehicle before investigators arrived. The State Attorney's Office later dropped those charges. Under a deal with prosecutors,Turner agreed to resign from the Sheriff's Office and permanently surrender his state-issued law enforcement certificate, according to court records.
Glen Baggett, 55
Police said Baggett was killed at his home on Rampart Road but that the case was ruled an "excusable" homicide. They did not list what Baggett's fatal injury was, but the report said they were initially called to the home in reference to a battery. Baggett was taken to Orange Park Medical Center, where he died.
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Eric Smothers, 54
Smothers was found shot on Benedict Road near Moncrief Road in Northwest Jacksonville and died at the hospital. Witnesses said they heard an argument before the shooting. Police did not release any description of the shooter.
Sunday, Feb. 12
Brandon McMorris, 20
McMorris was found shot at West 13th Street and Payne Avenue in Northwest Jacksonville, near Stanton College Prep. He was taken to UF Health by friends and died at the hospital. Police said later that it was ruled an "excusable" homicide and the case was cleared.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Ivon Mayrant, 31
Mayrant was found shot inside a Westside unit at Mission Springs Apartments on Catoma Street, between Timuquana Road and Ortega Farms Boulevard. Police were searching for two people and said Mayrant was shot during an apparent attempted robbery.
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Roshaun Hayles, 24
Hayles was shot and killed on Jammes Road, near the intersection of Wilson and Blanding boulevards on the Westside, by two men who were driving a dark green Toyota 4Runner. Police have not found the shooters, but found the vehicle.
Thursday, Feb. 23
Jennifer Nelson, 48
Nelson was killed and another woman was critically injured in a shooting outside Kelly's Place, a bar and restaurant on Kings Avenue in Jacksonville's New Town neighborhood. About 40 shots were fired into the silver Honda Accord where the women were sitting. Police have no suspect information. Nelson's family said she was a grandmother and that the bar was her neighborhood hangout.
Saturday, Feb. 25
Kyree Corley, 22
Corley was killed and four other people were injured when shots were fired as rap musicians were recording a music video at Moncrief Road, Myrtle Avenue and West 26th Street in Northwest Jacksonville. Police have no suspect information, but the shooting aftermath was captured on cellphone video by a bystander.
Monday, Feb. 27
John White, 23
White was shot and killed by his girlfriend's brother, 24-year-old Andrew Morgan, inside the home where Morgan and the girlfriend live on Elsa Drive on Jacksonville's Northside, police said. Morgan has been charged with murder in the case.
Monday, Feb. 27
Marcus Simpson Sr., 65
Simpson died after he was shot in the chest by his brother in the backyard of a home on West 15th Street near Witschen Avenue in Northwest Jacksonville after the two had an argument, according to family members. A niece of the two men said they lived together in the home. Police said the shooting was ruled justifiable, and the case was cleared.