JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two of the four people shot early Saturday morning in what police described as a double murder-suicide in a Westside home are recovering at UF Health Jacksonville.
Police said Jacoby King, 26, shot and killed 33-year-old Ryan Chesser and Chesser's 32-year-old cousin, Eric Bryant, in a home on Brian Lakes Drive, off Normandy Boulevard. Friends told News4Jax that Chesser was King's ex-boyfriend, although King’s mother told News4Jax that the two did not date.
Greg Gleason and Jessica Carter, roommates of Chesser, were said to be in critical condition when they were taken to the hospital. Gleason’s parents are to arrive Monday night to be by his side. News4Jax was told he is going to survive and is able to pass notes to Carter, who is doing better, but whose jaw is wired shut and still has a bullet lodged in her head.
Carter's mother said it's a miracle she's alive. News4Jax was told Carter has a young daughter.
Frankie Prescott said she couldn't believe when she heard Chesser was dead.
"An angel on Earth," Prescott said of Chesser. "For someone to do that, he’s a monster. To take lives, to tear families apart. The ripple that he’s caused through so many lives in so many families. He’s a monster."
Hughes said Chesser was popular because he was so outgoing and sweet to everyone he met.
"Everybody in the community loved him," Hughes said. "He's definitely going to be missed."
A member of Chesser's family released a statement saying, "We just really want him to be remembered as the flamboyant, outgoing, fun-loving, exaggerated, no-filter spark of joy that he was."
Prescott and other friends confirmed that King dated Chesser last year.
"The people in the gay community have seen both of them out," said Christian Hughes, another friend of Chesser. "A lot of people know that they were dating, so I don't know why his mom said that he was not dating Ryan when he was."
There will be a remembrance for Chesser at 9 p.m. Saturday at Realities Bar and Lounge on Lane Avenue.