JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – When former firefighter Mike McCue was shot to death, his family and friends focused on finding his killer and remembering the man they loved. On Friday morning, the focus became a picture in the Beaches Leader.
The newspaper published a photo of McCue's dead body on the front page of its Friday edition, upsetting his family and friends.
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"I thought it was inappropriate, disrespectful, down grading and just not right," said McCue's friend, James Meyer.
The photo shows investigators picking up the tarp that covered McCue's dead body. Channel 4 blurred the photo out of respect for the family.
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Channel 4 contacted the Beaches Leader to ask why they chose to print the picture, they had no comment.
McCue's older brother Chuck, commented about the picture on the Mike McCue Memorial page that is set up on Facebook, he said the publisher also refused to apologize to the family for printing the picture.
"If it were my son or my brother I wouldn't want to see that again," said McCue's former classmate, Tracy Northup. "Lay it to rest."
Friends and family are so upset by the photo that they are trying to buy every copy of the paper to get them out of circulation. Northup has decided to cancel her subscription to the paper. Northup said the image should show how McCue lived, not how he died.
"The beaches leader did a terrible thing but the main focus should be on Mike and I hope that someone somewhere will make a tribute to Mike," said Northup.
Police said McCue was shot and killed in the 1700 block of Sixth Avenue North on Wednesday afternoon. They said the slaying might be connected to an aggravated assault a block away less than an hour before the shooting.
Police continue searching for Charles Pearce, 30, who is considered a suspect in the aggravated assault and a person of interest in McCue's slaying. Investigators said he fired shots at his stepfather, Michael Otis, but didn't hit him, and then took off.
"He was threatening someone with a firearm and discharged several rounds," Sgt. Tom Bingham said.
Pearce has been arrested several times in the past on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, fraud and worthless checks.
Police said they were looking for a white Chevy van with license plate No. 887VQS.
If you know where Pearce is or the location of the van, call the Jacksonville Beach Police Department at 904-270-1667 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.