JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman was arrested about a month after a mother of three was found shot to death inside a Woodstock home, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
On July 22, the Sheriff’s Office said, police responded to a shooting on Prospect Street. That’s where officers said they found a woman dead inside a residence.
The woman was identified by family as Sharmeka Jackson, who had just celebrated her 31st birthday on July 21, the day before she was killed. Jackson was a certified nursing assistant and the owner of a new online treat business called “Meka’s Creations.”
“She was working better for her and getting her life together for her kids. She was a kind-hearted person. She would give you the shirt off her back if she knew you needed it — she was always laughing and smiling,” Shatera Coakley, Jackson’s cousin, said at a vigil last month.
Investigators said they identified the suspect as Nicole Hampton. According to the Sheriff’s Office, an arrest warrant was obtained, and with the help of U.S. marshals, Hampton, 29, was located and then booked Monday into the Duval County jail, where she’s being held without bond.
Her arrest report shows she’s facing charges of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
AJ Jordan, with MAD DADS, said he received tips that he believes helped with the arrest.
“I am always grateful any time a family can get some closure and see somebody that’s being held accountable for the senseless murder of their loved one,” Jordan said.
According to the arrest report, Hampton had been staying at Jackson’s house on Prospect Street for about a day. The report shows at least two other people were elsewhere in the house, and they told JSO that Jackson and Hampton were in the living room listening to music and that there was no argument or dispute before the shooting. The report said both witnesses said they heard a gunshot, went to investigate and saw Hampton trying to leave. One witness called 911, and both witnesses then began pulling Hampton back into the house, but she fled before JSO arrived, according to the report. She was eventually taken into custody in Bradford County.
In 2012, Hampton was convicted in Clay County of shooting into a building. She served two years in prison for that conviction and violating probation. She was released from prison in 2015.