JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A quadruple shooting at a Northwest Jacksonville park Thursday night that left a young father and 14-year-old boy dead was not random, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Hours before he was shot and killed, 24-year-old Titus Mobley sent a text to this longtime girlfriend and mother of his 2-year-old daughter:
"Happy Valentine's Day. I don't have anything, but I love you," Mobley wrote to her.
Mobley and a 14-year-old who has not been named died after the shooting, which police said grew out of a fight on the basketball court of Elizabeth Powell Park on Redpoll Avenue, just west of New Kings Road, just before 7 p.m. The other two victims, whose ages were not released, were shot in the legs and suffered injuries that were not considered non-life-threatening, according to police.
Investigators later learned the shooting stemmed from a planned fight between two females at the park. Police said people, some of whom were armed, showed up to watch the fight and several spectators fired shots.
Mobley's girlfriend of nine years, Tonya McClellan, described him as a good man and a hard worker. She believes the bullet that killed him was not meant for him.
"He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time," McClellan said. "He was a good father. He spent time with his child. He spent time with me. He would give us his last of whatever he had."
McClellan says Mobley worked for a moving company on the Southside to help pay bills and take care of his daughter.
"He was a loving person," she told News4Jax Friday. "He was always helping. He didn't do nothing but to go to work and go home and take care of his child, his family: me and my baby."
Homicide detectives continue to investigate. Anyone who was at the park Thursday night or who has with information about the case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).
McClellan urged anyone who knows anything about the shooting to come forward.
"Just speak out. Karma is going to eat you up. Speak out now," McClellan said.