JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The daughter of a woman who was gunned down at a store on Kings Road in 1986 is hoping the case can be solved 37 years later with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s renewed interest.
Beverly Ann Gilbert was shot to death shortly after opening D.J.’s Grocery Store, where she worked, on the morning of Dec. 29. She was 32 years old.
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Homicide Detective Travis Oliver said she was found shot in the left side of her chest after opening the store.
He said the call the officers responded to came in as a burglary, but what officers saw indicated something else.
“They see the key is still in the cash register and it was obvious the cash register had not been disturbed,” Oliver said.
He also said there was no sign of a struggle.
READ: Operation Cold Case
Oliver said nearly 40 years ago police identified a few suspects, including Gilbert’s boyfriend and a woman he was dating, and referred to the situation as a love triangle.
According to police notes from when they were originally investigating this case, Gilbert and the other woman had fought before.
Oliver also said love triangles can be tricky to solve.
”Often times in a case, it could be the person you think, and it could be someone totally unrelated,” Oliver said.
There was never any charges brought against anyone and Oliver said the case went cold in 1987.
Beverly Gilbert’s daughter, Katina Gilbert, said she doesn’t remember the day her mother was found dead.
She was six then. She also said she doesn’t remember much about her mother, but said she was as a kind and loving woman who was also stern at times.
“From the stories I remember I know she didn’t play, the radio,” Katina said. “I know I got my butt beat quite a lot from the stories I heard.”
Katina hopes she can get some concrete answers as to why this happened to her mom since the case is now being looked at again.
“I just want closure,” Katina said. “You know you could be walking in the store next to the person, you could be talking to the person that did it,” she said.
Now, JSO is turning to the public to help solve the case.
“We’re asking witnesses that did not come forward, but made statements to the victims family that knew that our person of interest was there, those witnesses in our opinion are more important,” Oliver said. “They could help us get over the threshold we need to move forward.”
Oliver and Katina are are urging those people to reach out to JSO at 904-630-0500.