Detectives arrested a man accused of shooting a 16-year-old while walking on the sidewalk of Beach Boulevard.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said the gunman is Michael Anthony Randolph, 21, who was arrested for first-degree attempted murder.
Investigators said Randolph shot the teenage girl in March 2016 as she was walking with a group of people on the sidewalk near the Walmart on Beach Boulevard. The Sheriff's Office said he was firing from a moving vehicle.
The victim’s mother, Carrie Woods, said her daughter endured seven weeks of intensive care at UF Health Jax and is still traumatized by the experience.
Woods said the bullet went through her daughter's abdomen and pierced her colon.
“To see your child every day have to be put under almost, like, seven times just to get her bandages changed is heartbreaking,” Woods said.
Action News Jax found Randolph has a rap sheet that includes armed robbery, kidnapping and terrorizing a victim. Now, attempted murder is added to that list.
“Why? Why would you throw your life away? Why? Why? Why would you want to hurt another human being like that? She was a child. She missed death by this much. As a person, how do you do something like that? What are you thinking when you pull a trigger? And he’s 21 years old. He has no life either,” Woods said.
Woods said she’s overwhelmed with emotions by the fact that a simple walk outside almost led to her daughter’s death.
“It’s something you see on TV, but it doesn’t happen to your family. But, it does,” Woods said.
Randolph’s bond is $250,000.
Cox Media Group
