JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The second annual Quench the Violence bike ride was held Saturday morning as one of the events created by two parents who lost their children to gun violence.
The parents’ personal tragedies pushed them to do work that can lead to change in the community.
At least 47 people have died by homicide so far in 2023, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and Robert LeCount, the pastor of Disciples of Christ Christian Fellowship on Edgewood Avenue, and Rekita Jones are doing their part to prevent more bloodshed in Jacksonville.
“We are coming because we still have life. We are trying to bring those who are still living to bring awareness and say, ‘Hey, we can live together in peace and harmony, without losing our life and killing one another,’” LeCount said.
The five-mile bike ride stretched from Moncrief Road to Soutel Drive, across from the Legends Center.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters kicked off the event, and 12 officers also participated.
LeCount said his son, Jamard, was killed more than 20 years ago on Soutel Dr.
“I always wonder what type of life he would have had if he would have had an opportunity to live,” LeCount said Thursday. “Would he be a family man? How many kids would he have had?”
Jamard was shot and killed at the age of 21, outside of what used to be an old skating rink after an argument with two other men. His father said it was considered a self-defense homicide.
LeCount makes it his mission to prevent other parents from experiencing his pain. He is doing so by hosting his second bike ride on Moncrief Road to end violence in the community.
It is all through the organization LeCount started called Quench the Violence.
“When I am over here, I just thank God for the little time that I was able to share with my son for 21 years,” LeCount said. “This is a way of me being able to make peace with what happened to my son, but it is also a way for me to be able to help somebody not to go through what I had to deal with as a father.”
Rekita Jones understands LeCount’s pain. Her daughter, Alexcia Anderson, was gunned down in January. She and her friend were heading home after a night celebrating the Jags’ playoff win.
Jones said the two women were cut off by one vehicle, then someone from another car shot at them, hitting them both.
Anderson’s friend survived, but Anderson died at a hospital. She was just 25 years old and left behind a 1-year-old daughter. No one has been arrested in the case.
“She was a very good person,” Jones said about her daughter. “She was an honor roll student in high school. She was actually set to start her nursing program for her nursing degree this August.”
Jones is sponsoring a movie night through the foundation she created in her own daughter’s honor: “In her Innocence: The Alexcia Anderson Foundation.”
Kids and their parents watched The Super Mario Bros. movie Friday night in the vacant field across the street from the Legends Center.
Both Jones and LeCount are using their resources to make a difference.
“The violence has to stop,” Jones said. “There are too many parents and too many families that are broken. They are losing their children. Now, innocent children are being affected and innocent individuals, adults are being affected by the traumas.”
“We are just trying to make awareness and try to make sure that we help someone, some parent, or help some kid not lose their life,” LeCount said.