The family of a woman killed in March is speaking out after the man accused with her murder was just charged this morning.
Police said 24-year-old Deja Daniels was found shot twice in the face on Jacksonville’s Northwest side.
She later died at the hospital.
Police have charged 37-year-old Terrell Lewis with murder.
He is also facing second-degree murder charges from a deadly triple shooting in April.
The family said they have another level of understanding of this arrest, and said they are glad he’s off the street.
They had to take it day by day.
“I knew it was going to surface,” said Chaddrick Daniels, Deja’s father.
But waiting for answers in Deja Daniels’s murder wasn’t easy for the family.
She was a very respectful, loving person, bubbly, and outgoing, everybody loved her,” Chaddrick Daniel said. “What he did – he took something from us and her baby.”
It was back in March when JSO officers found her shot twice in the face on Welland Road.
“My baby had just left my house at 8:48 and this happened at 9:05,” Chaddrick Daniel said.
She went to the hospital with life-threatening injuries – and later died.
For three months, her father waited for answers.
“She was very down to earth,” said Rodney Jones, Deja’s brother. “To know her was to love her.”
Then they got a call from detectives saying they believe they found the person responsible.
“Due to the evidence they do have him so I was happy about that,” Chaddrick Daniels said.
Lewis was already in jail – accused of murdering three people and kidnapping his son which sparked an Amber alert – one month after the shooting with Daniels.
“He’s a monster,” Chaddrick Daniels said. “My heart goes out to his son because I have an 8-year-old grandson.”
His grandson is now part of his motivation to get justice for his daughter.
“What can you expect, he misses his mom,” said Christi, who is Deja’s cousin. “No one can fill his mom’s shoes.”
He says he may be able to forgive Lewis down the line, but his concern right now is making sure Lewis gets a suitable sentence.
Lewis has an arraignment set for June 27th.
He’s being held without bond on the triple murder charges.