Is Jacksonville the homicide capital of Florida? This map says yes

Jacksonville ranked the highest of all cities in Florida when it came to homicides, a map published by CBS News said.

The map ranked Jacksonville No. 22 in the country, ahead of other Florida cities like Miami (No. 26) and Orlando (No. 32).

Michael Liles, the Executive Director for the Jacksonville Justice Coalition, lost his wife of 41 years in March 2017 when Deborah Liles was murdered in her Panama Park home. 

"She was a ray of light in a sometimes dark world," Mike Liles said. 

Liles' case is just one of the 100 homicides that have taken place in Jacksonville so far this year.

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Liles knows all too well what these numbers really mean as he awaits the trial for his wife's suspected killer. He believes change begins within the community.

“If we can wake up a little bit, and if we can start looking where we can make a difference, maybe someone else won’t have to make the phone calls I had to make to my kids," Liles said.

JSO said in a statement that they can't comment on the CBS News numbers.

Cox Media Group