"I'm very empty": Jacksonville woman wants answers after daughter killed in shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville mother says she just wants answers to find out how her daughter died.

Tearra Garrett, 23, was dropped off at UF Health Thursday afternoon with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“I’m very empty. It’s like I keep staring off into space. I don’t believe it’s happening yet,” said Tearra's mother Belinda Brownlee, who doesn’t know what to say or even what to feel.

“I’m in and out. One minute, I’m blank, next minute I’m wondering, next time I’m crying,” she said.

Police said her daughter was dropped off at the main entrance of UF Health with a gunshot wound and died minutes later.

“She’s never going to come back,” Brownlee said.

The entrance to the hospital was blocked off for hours while detectives examined the car. Right now, police are calling it an active homicide investigation. On Friday, Brownlee said police told her it’s a justifiable homicide.

“It’s a confusing situation,” she said.

Before her daughter was shot, Brownlee said her daughter was in the car with her boyfriend who she had only been with for a few months. She said the two had been arguing, and was told Garrett pulled out her boyfriend’s gun. Brownlee said the two fought, and Garrett was shot.

“It went through the arm, through the chest,” Brownlee said.

Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said police are examining the story closely to see if it lines up with the injuries on her body.

“Right now I have to wait until the autopsy comes back, because I’m not really for sure. I lost so many tears these lasts couple of hours, I didn’t even know I had in my own body,” she said.

Cox Media Group