JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family members and friends gathered Saturday for a vigil to remember a 20-year-old man who was killed Wednesday in a double shooting in Arlington.
Craig Aiken said the vigil was all about remembering his son, Craivon Aiken, in a positive light — as someone who lived how he wanted and loved his family.
The double shooting was reported around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at The Square at 59 Caroline Apartments, an apartment complex on Fort Caroline Road in the University Park area. A 17-year-old Ribault High School student is facing multiple charges — including car theft and possession of a firearm by a juvenile delinquent — in connection with the shooting, but he has not been charged with the homicides.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a witness inside the apartment called 911, and Aiken said when police arrived they found a man, identified by family as Craivon Aiken, and another man dead.
Craig Aiken said that since he found out Wednesday that his son was killed, the days have been cloudy and he’s had a hard time dealing with reality. He said it’s hard knowing that one of his children is no longer with him, especially since just six years ago, he was reunited with his daughter Kamiyah Mobley 18 years after she was kidnapped from a Jacksonville hospital right after her birth in 1998.
Craig Aiken said Craivon Aiken was the youngest of eight children and leaves behind two of his own.
Craig Aiken said that although Craivon Aiken was younger than Mobley, once the family was reunited with her, he treated her like a little sister.
He also said he wants to help make sure something like this doesn’t happen to other families.
“I would like for people to take this as an example, this can happen to your child, too, you know what I’m saying,” Craig Aiken said Saturday. “I just want people to talk to their kids, take care of their kids and get as close as you can with your kids because you can lose one of them in this world at any minute.”
Police have said the motive for the shooting is unclear, but it’s early in the investigation.