JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 30 hours after homicide detectives found a 65-year-old woman shot to death, police were still at the scene Friday.
Family members said Marla Henderson was killed inside her Northside home in the 3800 block of Ribault Terrace near Moncrief Road West.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Henderson was found face down, shot in the back, and that detectives are investigating the shooting as a murder.
Some family members flew in from out of state, baffled by the news. One cousin spoke to News4Jax but asked to be identified only as Terri because Henderson's killer has not been caught.
"She was a good-hearted person," Terri said. "She wasn't a vicious person. She was very carefree, a very loving person."
Terri said Henderson did not have any ill will toward anyone, and she doesn't know why someone would shoot such a sweet woman.
"It's sad," Terri said. "I'm sorry that it happened, very sorry that it happened."
On Thursday, another family member called police out to do a wellness check at Henderson's home at 3821 Ribault Terrace just before noon.
Officers found Henderson dead and called in homicide detectives.
A day later, police were still at Henderson's home, as Terri and her family sat outside the crime scene tape sad, upset and confused with little information to explain their loss.
"Right now the police are not saying too much of anything to us," Terri said. "It's an ongoing investigation, so they're very close-lipped. I do know that the two roommates that were there, they took them down for questioning yesterday. They released them, so at this point, that's pretty much all that I know. So that kind of leaves us more in the dark than we were before."
Her relatives said Henderson used to love to have fun, but was recently hurting from a back injury, a pinched nerve and deterioration in her spine.
Anyone with information about Henderson's murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward up to $5,000.