JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family and friends are saying goodbye to a young woman who police said was shot and killed by her boyfriend while they were playing with a gun at his parents' house.
According Pedro Cruz, 17-year-old Jaylene Cruz's father, it was an unnecessary tragedy that he was struggling to avoid.
"It's a nightmare. I'm still wishing that I'm dreaming and whatnot, because she has so much of a beautiful life ahead of her, she was only 17, and I was fighting for her future," Pedro Cruz said.
Police said Jaylene Cruz and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Elgardo Garcia Jr., were smoking marijuana and pointing a gun at each other when Garcia accidentally shot Jaylene Cruz.
It happened at the East Arlington home where the couple lived with Garcia's parents. Jaylene Cruz's father said he had been fighting to get his daughter out of that house and the only thing that gives him peace is knowing he tried everything to help his daughter.
That meant, in part, going to court to legally confirm he had custody of her. Now he said they may have won that case, but ultimately they lost.
Pedro Cruz said a judge had just signed an order enforcing his 50/50 custody of his daughter the day she was killed.
The paperwork in that case once held so much joy for Pedro Cruz. The judge's signature meant he would be able to go get his daughter.
The 17-year-old had run away from her mom's house in Orlando where the family lived, and was staying with her boyfriend and his parents in Jacksonville.
"I cried of joy, I was extremely happy. I called my sister, I called my father, I called everyone in my family because I was joy beyond words," Pedro Cruz said.
While making plans to get his daughter, Pedro Cruz got a call from detectives saying she'd been shot and killed.
"That was the worst feeling ever. I couldn't even begin to describe what I felt like, I was outside of my body. Everything I was fighting for has to end you know," Pedro Cruz said.
Pedro Cruz said he had been talking with her boyfriend's family to arrange a way to bring Jaylene home and because he lives in Orlando, he sent a good friend to pick her up, but said the family refused to let Jaylene leave.
He then reported her missing, but said he couldn't get her because his estranged wife, who he said had no problem with Jaylene staying with the family, filed an injunction against him.
"They couldn't get her to leave. I couldn't even speak to her in any way, shape or form. That was pretty much the last time I had to save my daughter's life," Pedro Cruz said.
Jaylene Cruz's aunt, Catherine Smith, believes Garcia's parents should be held accountable.
"The parents had no right to take her without permission. That should have been kidnapping or interfering with custody and I'm upset. I'm like, ‘They need to do something with the parents of the kid,' he is in jail but I feel like the parents need to pay as well," Smith said.
The grieving family knows nothing will bring Jaylene Cruz back, but they hope sharing her story will help another family from enduring a loss like theirs.
"Always be on the same page with one another. Believe me, you will lose the light of your child if you don't. This is the ultimate, ultimate sacrifice you'll give up by not being on the same page," Pedro Cruz said.
Garcia is now facing multiple charges for killing the teen, including manslaughter and his next court date is Monday.
In the meantime Jaylene's family has set up a Go Fund Me account to help with the expense of the sudden death for anyone who wishes to help.