JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded Thursday afternoon to two separate deadly stabbing incidents across Jacksonville.
The first stabbing was reported at an Oakleaf home on Stapleton Drive in the Cooper Ridge subdivision. Police said it was a domestic incident that involved several people.
A neighbor who called 911 said a man attacked his parents and a woman who was a family friend before killing himself.
The attacker was identified as 39-year-old Joven Zante, according to the incident report.
Upon arrival, an officer saw the neighbor who reported the incident and the family friend, identified as 74-year-old Jocelyn Paquel, standing outside the home and waving toward the front door, and they said that Zante was stabbing people inside, according to the report.
Once the officer entered the home, Zante’s 73-year-old mother, Mildred Zante, waved toward the kitchen where she said her husband, identified as 80-year-old Paterno Zante, was lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds. The officer then saw Joven lying on the floor face down with his head facing east “in a pool of blood unresponsive,” the incident report states.
According to the report, Joven’s father was stabbed in the chest and his mother had a shallow cut across her throat. They were both transported to Orange Park Medical Center.
Paquel had a deep cut from her neck to her clavicle and was transported to UF Health Shands, according to the report.
Jean M., a neighbor who was not home when it happened, was devastated.
“They were such great neighbors. I never suspected anything like this. At all. Very quiet. The parents are sweet, and I would have never suspected anything like this,” Jean said.
Police did not provide any further details, but sources told News4JAX that several of the victims had life-threatening injuries.
News4JAX asked the hospitals for an update on the victims’ condition and we are waiting to hear back.
Then around 3:30 p.m. on Jacksonville’s Westside, a 29-year-old man was found with at least one stab wound at a home on La Marche Drive, just off Normandy Boulevard.
He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Police said that some sort of altercation happened between the man and someone else.
What led to the fatal stabbing and the relationship between the man and his attacker are unclear at the moment.
JSO has obtained a search warrant for the home and plans to conduct interviews as the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information on this stabbing, call 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
The stabbings are not related.