JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother is speaking out after waiting years for arrests to be made in the murder of her son.
News4JAX reported in 2019 when Freddy Patterson, 30, was shot and killed at a home near Hogan’s Creek.
Recommended Videos
On Friday, JSO announced the arrests of Shawn Bossard and Jeffery Herring who are both facing second-degree murder charges.
Shawntina Benton described the moment she got a phone call from JSO investigators.
“I knew it was coming because I always had hope. And when I got that phone call, I just jumped for joy,” she said.
It’s a call she’d been waiting for since 2019.
“I thought I’d never go through this. We are not supposed to bury our kids. Our kids supposed to bury us,” Benton said.
She said she feels a mixture of emotions.
“I feel confused. I feel still angry. And I feel relieved at the same time. Does that make sense? I just feel all that. I’m kind of still confused because I just want to know why,” she said.
That’s the question that Benton said continues to torture her and Patterson’s 14 children. Benton said the arrests are good news, but they don’t mean her search for those answers is over. She plans to follow the case as it moves to the courts.
She had this advice for other families still waiting for justice.
“Don’t give up. Don’t give up because just it’s gonna be served. Do not give up,” she said.
Bossard was in jail on unrelated charges and a second-degree murder was added.
Herring was found and arrested in Leon County and could soon be extradited back to Duval County.
