JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville mother is dead in what police said they believe is a murder-suicide. Police have not identified the victim, but family said she is Stephanie Leclerc, 29.
Noel Leclerc, the father of the dead woman, said he never thought he'd lose his daughter.
"I can feel it in my heart right now," Leclerc said. "The biggest part is I keep remembering my little girl on the side of the road."
Police said about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, a woman was found shot multiple times at a home on Dunn Creek Road. Police later found a man with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Leclerc said the victim was his only daughter, Stephanie Leclerc, and the alleged gunman was her boyfriend, Wayne Blair.
“I can just picture it in my head,” Leclerc said. “Her running down the road and he just shot her, but I just don't know what would make him snap like that.”
Leclerc said his daughter called Saturday night and told her parents the couple had argued. He said she asked if they could pick her up if she called back for help.
Leclerc said his daughter and Blair were together for more than 10 years and did not have major problems. They have children, a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old, now left parentless.
“It's not like you're losing one,” Leclerc said. “You're losing both in one scenario and that's a heavy blow.”
Now he’s trying to come to grips with his daughter’s untimely death.
“Now just kind of numb,” he said. “Stephanie was a good mom. She was young-hearted.”
The Leclerc family said their next step is to work on funeral arrangements.
Blair’s parents declined to comment.