A Jacksonville family is pleading for answers in the death of a father of three.
John Dawsey was a beloved husband, father, son, cousin. These are just some of the family and friends hurting over the loss of their loved one. His mom is urging anyone with information about his murder to call @FCCrimeStop pic.twitter.com/aKl0n3Ea5Q
— Brittney Donovan (@brittneyANjax) January 5, 2019
“I just want to know why. Why the senseless violence?” Dolly Butler said. “I'm not the only mother crying in Jacksonville.”
Butler’s son, 34-year-old John Levon Dawsey, was a loving father of three.
Police say he was shot on Dec. 23, 2018, while walking in broad daylight on Broadway Avenue. He died at the hospital.
As #JSO was investigating Dawsey’s murder, gunshots rang out just blocks away. Dawsey’s mom says the senseless shooting needs to stop https://t.co/9rg7Ib1ooI
— Brittney Donovan (@brittneyANjax) January 5, 2019
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While police were investigating his death, shots rang out just across Edgewood Avenue.
Family and friends hand in hand in prayer before taking to the streets to find answers about who killed their loved one. John Dawsey, a dad of 3, was gunned down in broad daylight in #Jacksonville @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/Ha4d9pPtD1
— Brittney Donovan (@brittneyANjax) January 5, 2019
“There's a lot of us crying -- a lot of fathers and mothers crying. The crying needs to stop. It (needs) to stop,” Butler said.
Dawsey is among 103 people murdered in Jacksonville in 2018, according to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's transparency page.
The records indicate more than 70 of those cases are unsolved.
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“A family member's life taken away due to foolishness, just gun violence in our community,” Donald Foy, president of MAD DADS, said.
He and Dawsey’s family went door to door off Broadway Avenue on Saturday, urging anyone with information about his killer to come forward.
As Dawsey’s family takes a boots on-the-ground approach to finding his killer, his mom is pleading for change in the Jacksonville community.
“Please, can we all just get along? Just stop the violence, please stop it. Stop all this murdering, killing and shooting,” she said.
Anyone with information about Dawsey’s murder is urged to call First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
Cox Media Group
