JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police say two women have been charged in connection with a shooting Friday on French Street, in Murray Hill.
Antoinette Nicole Boyd, 24, was charged with second degree murder and armed robbery after police say she shot Russell Waddell in the chest at her home on French Street.
Boyd’s roommate, Leondra Lashawn Jones, 44, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, police said.
Jones owned the gun that was used to shoot the victim, police said.
Waddell went to the French Street home to solicit sex, police said. When the victim saw that the women didn’t look like the pictures he saw on Backpage.com, he tried to leave, police said. That’s when Boyd called for Jones to bring a gun and attempted to extort Waddell, ultimately shooting him in the chest, killing him, police said.
Judge John Guy denied bond for Boyd, and set a $100,000 bond for Jones, according to police.
Police were called to French Street around 12:34 a.m. after a disturbance was reported. Upon arrival, they found several people inside the home -- including Waddell, who was dead with a gunshot wound.
Waddell’s death marks 50 homicides in Jacksonville this year, according to News4Jax records.
News4Jax spoke to a woman whose mother owns the home where the shooting occurred. She said she had very little information on the man or his connection with her mother.
The Sheriff's Office said they do not believe any children were inside the home during the shooting.
News4Jax looked into the neighborhood and the types of crime in the area. On JSO's crime map, there were crimes within a half-mile radius since the beginning of this year that include:
- 31 simple and aggravated assaults
- 22 vehicle burglaries
- 17 home burglaries
- 12 commercial burglaries
- 3 street robberies
- 1 carjacking
- 1 commercial robbery
Neighbors said the area is fairly quiet and they don't usually see crime like this.
“Well, it just normally doesn’t happen in this neighborhood,” said neighbor Don Hawkins. “It's a fairly well settled, stable neighborhood. But, every so often, things happen.”
Although the shooting happened inside the home, investigators also focused on a black SUV in the driveway.
A neighbor reported to News4Jax that they have had problems with the people who live in the home. However, JSO has not been able to confirm previous calls from this home.
Both suspects have been previously arrested
Both women who were arrested in connection with Waddell's murder have previously been arrested, according to jail records.
Boyd had been arrested twice before her third arrest Friday. Just three months ago, she was arrested for not having a driver's license, and last year, she was arrested on a warrant for prostitution, jail records show.
It was Jones' 11th arrest by JSO. She was most recently arrested on drug and weapons charges last year, jail records show. Other charges she faced included battery, aggravated assault and petit theft.
News4Jax also found an interview with Jones from December 2015. In the interview, Jones spoke with News4Jax after her 27-year-old son was shot and killed in what police described as a gang-related shooting on the city's Westside.
"I want my baby. That's my baby. That's my first-born child," Jones said in the interview.
Her son, Paul Gillins, was found shot and killed in his car, which was parked in the lot of the McDonald's off Cassat and Highway avenues. Police said Gillins was a known gang member and had a previous arrest.