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Mother mourns after woman shot dead at Riverside gas station

Jacksonville police look to ID woman in surveillance video from inside store

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of a woman shot and killed late Monday night at a BP gas station on Stockton Street said she just wants justice for her daughter.

Police identified the victim as 24-year-old Sahara Barkley.

"She was my baby girl," Rozella Brooks-White, Barkley's mother, said. 

Just hours before her death, Barkley was with her mom and 1-year-old son, shooting off fireworks, laughing and talking, Brooks-White said.

Then Brooks-White got the terrible news.

“It was unreal. I had just seen my daughter earlier that night,” she said.

Jacksonville police are investigating the shooting as a possible carjacking.

Brooks-White said her daughter's life revolved around her 1-year-old son and that she went to the Riverside gas station frequently because she lived a couple blocks away. Monday night she was driving a rented silver Chevrolet Impala.

Sources told News4Jax that Barkley parked and went inside the store to buy a pack of cigarettes and left her car running. A man and woman approached Barkley's vehicle, and the man drove off in it, leaving the woman behind.

When Barkley noticed the man driving off in her car, she confronted the woman. The source said that woman shot Barkley and took off. 

Nyla Garner, who works at the gas station, said she and another person tried to save Barkley's life as she lay on the ground, bleeding and begging for help.

“I am not going to let somebody die on my watch if I can do something about it,” Garner said. “She was saying, 'Please don’t let me die. I have a baby.'"

Barkley died at a hospital. 

Detectives are interviewing store clerks and reviewing surveillance video to figure out what happened and to try and identify the suspects.

Late Tuesday evening, the Sheriff's Office released video form inside a store. Homicide detectives said they're trying to identify the woman in the video, saying they believe she may have information about the deadly shooting.

WATCH: Store surveillance video released by JSO

Anyone who knows anything about the shooting, or who recognizes the woman seen in the video, is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477). 


About the Authors
Jenese Harris headshot

Veteran journalist and Emmy Award winning anchor

Ashley Harding headshot

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She anchors News4Jax at 5:30 and 6:30 and covers Jacksonville city hall.

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