CRESCENT CITY, Fla. – A Crescent City native who was killed in a shooting Sunday in the tight-knit and normally quiet town leaves behind seven children.
A memorial of flowers now sits in the spot where Tykey Nixon was shot to death. As the memorial grew Monday, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Ahmad Rashard Williams had been arrested on charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the shooting death of Nixon.
Family told News4Jax that Nixon and Williams were childhood friends, just one year apart in age, were well-known in the Crescent City community.
“I just think it was senseless that it had to go down like that,” said Sharonda Willians, a friend of Nixon.
Nixon, the 28-year-old father of seven, was born and raised in Crescent City. His death was the first homicide this year in Putnam County and the first homicide in eight years in Crescent City.
“It was shocking to everybody to the community, a shock to everyone," said William Gillon, a friend of Nixon.
Jacqueline Holland, Nixon’s aunt, said pretty much everyone in town knows each other. She said her nephew will be remembered for always have a smile on his face.
“Everybody liked him, knew him," Holland said. “He’s born and raised here. He was raised up in my house and my mother’s house.”
Authorities said the deadly shooting happened about 1 p.m. Sunday in a vacant lot near Main Street and Florida Avenue, which is about a block away from the Crescent City Police Department building on Summit Street. Nixon’s aunt said a group of people was hanging out when someone made some kind of joke and the situation escalated.
“They was just teasing and playing and that’s how it all happened. Nobody wasn’t mad at one another or nothing, you know, but that’s how it happens. That’s life, you know? A joke will kill you," Holland said.
Locals said the vacant lot is a popular spot, known as “The Tree” to hang out and throw parties, even though there are no trespassing signs around the property.
“It needs to be closed down," Holland said. "That’s what I would like -- the city to close it up.”
Holland said the gun violence between young men needs to stop, and that she’s also praying for Williams’ family.
“I’m not upset with none of his family or anything," Holland said. "Things happen. We don’t know what our kids are going to do.”
Shortly after the shooting, deputies took Williams, 29, into custody in nearby Pomona Park. According to Crescent City Police Chief Mark Carman, he initially got into a car after the shooting and tried to get away, but later turned himself in.