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JSO: Felony murder warrants issued in death of Jacksonville 7-year-old girl

PHOTOSPersons of interest in murder of Jacksonville 7-year-old girl

Two people have been arrested in connection to the Saturday shooting death of a 7-year-old Jacksonville girl, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Heidy was shot and killed Aug. 11 while sitting in a car in a Jacksonville shopping center. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released clear images of persons of interest after the killing.

INTERVIEW: Father of slain 7-year-old demands justice for daughter 

RELATED STORY: Family grateful to JSO for hard work, protection

Arrest warrants for felony murder have been issued for two men in the death of 7-year-old Heidy Rivas-Villeneuva. One man -- Abrion Price -- is still being sought. The men got into a shootout while attempting to conduct a robbery, JSO said.

According to JSO, Trevonte Montie Phoenix and Abrion Maurice Price set up a robbery disguised as a gun sale on social media. They met their intended target at an IHOP on Jacksonville's Westside and conducted the armed robbery stealing a firearm, money and a cell phone, JSO said in Tuesday's news conference.

JSO said the robbery target had an acquaintance, Stanley Tyron Harris III, come with him in a second car, unknown to Phoenix and Price, due to safety concerns with this deal.

The Sheriff's Office said when Phoenix and Price attempted to flee the robbery, Harris opened the door of the black Kia that he was in and started firing rounds at the suspects. According to JSO, Phoenix and Price returned gunfire.

Thirteen shell casings were found at the scene. The Sheriff's Office preliminary investigation indicates the bullet that killed Heidy was from Harris in the black Kia.

Price and Phoenix have murder warrants for their arrest for their involvement in the murder. Harris' previous felony arrest prohibits him from having a firearm, JSO said.

Phoenix and Harris are in custody. The sheriff's office is asking for help in locating Price. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Price.

Action News Jax went to Abrion Price’s most recent address, according to court records.

Several women came out and said the SWAT team had already been there looking for Price, but that he does not live there anymore.

“Nobody should be helping Price. You should be calling and turning him in. You shouldn’t be helping him. And if we find out through investigation that you’ve harbored him, that you’ve helped him out, then you can expect to be arrested and charges to be filed against you as well,” said JSO Sheriff Mike Williams.

Court records show that, in 2014, when Price was 17-years-old, he was found guilty of drug and weapons charges, as well as resisting an officer without violence.

In 2015, he was found guilty of resisting an officer without violence and possession of marijuana on the same street where the 7-year-old was shot on Saturday.

That same year, Price was arrested on a cocaine charge. This year, a Jacksonville woman named Price in a paternity suit.

Additional charges for Harris are pending further results from the investigation. JSO said the community helped provide hundreds of tips in this case.

Those tips helped them identify key players in Heidy's murder, JSO said.

RELATED: Mother of Jacksonville 7-year-old shot, killed: 'She was my princess'

Heidy's mother spoke to Action News Jax on Monday and had a message for the shooters.

“I don’t know about them, but they left a deep pain in my soul," Heidy's mother said. "They took away the one I loved the most. I’m no one to judge them, but up there, there’s someone. God will judge them."