Jacksonville police investigating murder of 4-year-old boy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy.

His death was listed as a murder on JSO’s transparency page on Thursday.

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Action News Jax linked the case number listed on the transparency page to an incident that happened on April 15, when officers were called out to Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

The reason for their visit is redacted in the police report, but it states that JSO spoke with a Department of Children Families investigator at the hospital, and that a detective would follow up on the investigation.

At this time, no arrests have been made in connection to the child’s death.

Christopher Nastasi, the boy’s uncle, identified the child as 4-year-old James Reese and Nastasi provided photos of James to Action News Jax.

“I want justice for my nephew. I want to know why justice isn’t being served,” Nastasi said. “It’s a horror house. It’s a horror house going on in my mind right now.”

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Family Support Services of North Florida, the nonprofit agency that manages child and family services for DCF in Duval and Nassau counties, provided the following statement to Action News Jax:

“Our hearts are breaking at this tragedy. FSS and our partners are working closely with law enforcement to ensure that whoever is responsible for harming James is brought to justice. Right now our thoughts are with James’s family as well as the social services workers who are involved in the case. For family members and child welfare professional committed to protecting children, it’s the worst imaginable scenario for a child to be harmed at the hands of an adult.”

The boy’s family created a GoFundMe to help cover his funeral costs.

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