JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a Jacksonville teenager gunned down in the Woodstock neighborhood is calling for community members to break the code of silence.
Elijah McDonald, 17, was shot and killed at the Sophia Huron Apartments in September. No arrests have been made close to two months later.
Saturday morning, McDonald’s family members and friends plan on going door-to-door in the community where Elijah was shot.
The group MAD DADS has helped organize this event. They’re hoping to get any tips to help investigators at JSO solve this case.
Ashleigh McDonald, Elijah’s mom, told News4JAX she’s been living in a nightmare since Sept. 27. That’s the day she lost her oldest son.
“It’s hard. It’s unbelievable really. I wake up every day thinking it’s a dream because I never would have thought in a million years that you know my son would be gone.”
The 17-year-old was found shot to death in the parking lot of the Sophia Huron Apartments around one-thirty in the afternoon.
McDonald is determined to make sure she gets justice for her son. Because the crime happened during the middle of the day, she’s hoping someone may have seen or heard something and they just haven’t talked to the police yet.
She’s teaming up with MAD DADs and they plan on returning to the community where the shooting happened — going door-to-door — trying to get those answers.
“We’re asking those that are in this area, of the Sophia area, to break the code of silence and come out and tell what they know,” Donald Foy, President of MAD DADs Jacksonville, said. This is the only way that we are going to be able to have a crime, drug and violent-free neighborhood.”
McDonald said she does not want her son to just be a statistic connected to gun violence.
“Elijah was a caring, sweet person. At the end of the day, he was a caring, sweet person. He had a good heart. He was that friend that was loyal, that would make sure you were okay, that would check in on you.”
All community members are invited to walk with MAD DADS Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10:45 a.m. at the Sophia Huron Apartments at 2800 Sophia Street.
If anyone has any information about this shooting, you are asked to contact JSO’s non-emergency number at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.