JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was arrested Saturday after making death threats on Facebook, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Chris McCall, 28, is being held on $85,000 bond at the Duval County Jail after police said he told a woman on Facebook he was going to kill her and her 5-year-old son.
That woman did not want to be identified, but she told News4Jax Monday that they had two mutual friends, so she added him as a friend and didn’t think much of it -- until she made a simple post asking about how to install a PlayStation 4.
She said that’s all it took for McCall to start posting offensive things in the comment section.
“Basically, (he was) calling me names: 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist, you're dumb,' and saying all these types of weird things, and I'm like, 'Who is this guy?'”
She said after commenting back, things began to escalate, so she deleted his comments and asked him to leave her alone in a private message. Then she blocked him. But the woman said he used a different Facebook page to comment back.
McCall writes, “You Blocked me … well F you ... Keep playing with me, I’m gonna kill your son too ... got a problem … call me..” McCall wrote. He then left his number.
He also posted he was glad the woman’s husband, who was killed four years ago, was dead. She said the most alarming thing was the threat toward her 5-year-old son.
“He's a child," she said. "Why would you? Something is wrong with you. You said you want to kill a child? My son. I don't even know this guy. He's crazy.”
News4Jax uncovered a pattern in McCall’s arrest history. In 2010, he was found guilty of threatening to kill another woman for blocking him on Facebook. He was sentenced to 42 days, but also credited that same amount for time served.
In 2015, a woman filed a police report saying he threatened her too, posting, “Putting a hit out on this B. Inform the blank that I’m going to kill her, and her family, and if (she) has kids, I’m going to kill them too.”
Police attempted to get an arrest warrant, but no arrest was ever made, according to court records.
“I don't think he's learned his lesson, because he keeps doing it over and over again," the victim said. "It's not a one-time thing. He keeps doing it and getting away with it. People are afraid of him.”
“That's why he continues to do it: because he hasn't been punished appropriately," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "He got away with it and he keeps getting away with it, so he just keeps continuing to reoffend. Now that hopefully these charges will stick with him, he will do some time."
Smith said the best thing you can do is to not add anyone to Facebook you don’t know personally, and keep the information on your page vague -- don’t include personal information that someone could track you down with.
McCall is expected back in court Jan. 31.
