JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family members say the man who died after he was shot Saturday night inside a bathroom at the Hyatt in Downtown Jacksonville had recently graduated from Ed White High School.
The family identified him as a 19-year-old and shared his photo, but asked not to identify him by name. Mary Dennis, a family friend, said he had big dreams.
“He was a very energetic kid on his way to college,” Dennis said.
She said he was out celebrating his birthday.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation that happened, but he was just out. He wasn’t looking for any trouble like that,” Dennis said.
The family friend said the 19-year-old was enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
The recent high school graduate was one of two men who were shot in the bathroom by Morton’s Steakhouse in the lobby of the hotel.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said there was a private party going on inside Morton’s at the time of the shooting.
JSO on Tuesday afternoon said investigators were working to track down Cory Hall, 29, who’s suspected of murder and attempted murder in the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office considered him armed and dangerous.
Court documents show the suspect has three priors in Duval County, including grand theft and petit theft.