JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At the Justice Coalition on Lane Avenue, supporting victims and survivors is the mission.
During a recent visit with her advocates, Heidi Doyle experienced a new show of support. She was able to hang her son’s picture on the wall of lost loved ones.
It’s been 10 months since Bryant Grund, 31, was shot and killed in what the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said was a $20,000 gang hit. Grund was not the intended target.
Doyle said the pain of losing him is felt every minute of every day.
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“You don’t ever want to think that somebody is not going to come home to you when you say goodbye,” Doyle said. “I didn’t get to say ‘I love you’ when he walked out the door. I went out to walk his dog and I came back, and the timing was off. I know he knows I love him very much and I said it often.”
Since Grund’s murder, Doyle’s life has been turned upside down.
Grund was the family’s main source of income, and he worked to help support his mother and younger siblings. The only car the family had was the one he was using to drive for Uber the night of his murder.
Doyle said it was taken into evidence by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and was recently released back to her. Bullet holes are visible in the windshield and the interior is torn up. Doyle says it is not drivable.
She said the family was staying in a hotel when this happened, and since the murder, they’ve relocated to Fernandina Beach. Finding steady employment has been hard with no transportation.
Doyle said shortly before the murder, the family was getting ready to move to Georgia because Grund was set to start a new job, one that would’ve made him a manager. For Doyle, what hurts most is the future her son was denied.
“He wasn’t going to be able to make that step. He got shorted that step and I just still have a hard time understanding, as many do when they lose somebody that they don’t get to make the next step here,” Doyle said. “It’s not right. It’s not fair, and I want to give it back to him because he had great things on the other side of that step.”
Doyle is grateful to have the support of the Justice Coalition, which provides crisis intervention and education for victims regarding their rights, and acts as a liaison among other responsibilities.
Doyle said she is now looking for steady employment. Specifically remote work, given her limited transportation. While she has a long way to go for her family and for her own healing journey, Doyle wants people to remember her son for the way he lived, not for the way he died.
“He was just a big love, he was like a big bear,” Doyle said. “You could melt in his baby blue eyes and give him a hug. He was just a great guy. He was a great guy to know.”
If you’re interested in helping or can offer support, the Justice Coalition invites you to contact its office. You can find that info here: Contact Us - Justice Coalition.
Antonio Tillie Jr., 19 was killed in the same shooting. Three people have been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting. The third suspect was arrested three weeks ago.