Jacksonville families rally for peace hours after juvenile shot

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police lights filled a Jacksonville neighborhood Saturday night.

Officers said a boy was shot while walking in the area of Kings Road and Flag Street at 10:15 p.m.

Hours earlier and less than a mile away, family of murdered 21-year-old Shawnell Mahone walked West 18th Street, searching for information about his killer.

According to data on the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office transparency website, more than 90 people have been murdered in Jacksonville so far this year, 20 of them 19 years old or younger.

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"We must not believe that the gangs and the criminals are going to run our city. We must begin to reclaim our neighborhoods, our communities," said Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville.

Frazier organized Come Together Day at Lonnie Miller Park on Sunday. It was a peace festival with the goal of uniting the community.

“When I was a little girl, I grew up coming to Come Together Day, so I think this is something great,” Donella Lewis said. “Our kids, the young generation, needs to see people can come together, all walks of life and just enjoy each other and have a good time.”

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Frazier said the coalition believes in breaking the norm of violence through building relationships between neighbors across the city.

He said it’s going to take families, organizations and law enforcement to stop the gun violence.

He also had a message for families.

“If you know people who are doing things that are wrong, then they need to be reported. It's as simple as that,” he said.

Cox Media Group