JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thirteen people between ages 15-to-19 were shot and killed so far in 2022, and many of the cases have not been solved.
In light of this, a local mother, who still grieves the murder of her son killed over a decade ago, spoke to News4JAX. Her son’s death inspired her to create a wall to honor others shot and killed in Jacksonville.
It started as one wall in 2007, but has grown to several walls and 3,000 names of people killed in Duval county. It’s a memorial that Beverly McClain says she will maintain to keep the memory of the murdered alive. Among them McClain’s son, Andre Johnson, who was murdered in 2005.
McClain is the founder and CEO of Families of Slain Children Incorporated.
“These are people, these are human beings,” McClain said. “They belong to somebody, they belong to us, we are all family whether we like it or not.”
In 2022 alone, every month there has been someone between the ages of 15 and 19 murdered in Duval County. Three of those deadly shootings happened on 103rd Street.
“They don’t forget, they put it in the back of their hearts and their minds, because at certain times people come over here and rub their hand across the name,” McClain said. “That was my granddaughter, that was my son.”
The answer to ending violence, especially teen violence, is not an easy one. However, JSO says they have multiple programs for parents to use:
- The Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch
- Kids Hope Alliance
- Northeast Florida Camp Cadet
- Operation Save Our Sons
- Police Explorers
- The Parent Health Center
- Police Athletic League of Jacksonville
A. J. Jordan with MAD DADS Jacksonville Chapter believes a lot of local teens are going down the wrong path.
“I think a lot of teens just don’t know how to resolve their issues, their anger, their frustrations and they get a hold to a gun most likely stolen out of an unlocked vehicle and they take out their frustrations with a gun,” Jordan said.
Adding that a lot of parents just don’t know what their children are going through until their child explodes into violence.
With September in just three weeks, advocates are hoping another life is not lost to gun violence.