Jacksonville man tries to murder date when he refused to pay for his dinner, police report states

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has arrested the man suspected of trying to rob and murder his date after an argument ensued, in which the date refused to pay for his dinner.

In February 2023, JSO detectives were called to a hospital in response to a man with gunshot wounds. Reports state that when police arrived, the victim had two bullet holes in his right arm and one bullet hole on the right side of his chest.

Police found him at the hospital while he was still conscious, but he was in too much pain to speak with police for very long.

What JSO detectives were able to gather from the initial interaction, was that the victim had been speaking to the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Jamal Moreland, on the dating app Grindr, a few days before the incident.

Police reports state that the two arranged to go on a date on Feb. 19, 2023. The victim drove out to Lemon Grass Lane to pick up Moreland, who was waiting on the street corner in front of his residence.

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JSO states that after leaving Lemon Grass Lane, they drove to the bowling alley where they walked in to get a drink, but the bar was closed, so they left and went to a liquor store and bought a bottle of Crown Royal.

After they drove back to the bowling alley, they reportedly hung out in the back part of the parking lot, drinking the Crown Royal.

At this point, detectives learned that Moreland had ordered food and wanted the victim to pay for the food.

The victim told him he was not paying for the food, which agitated Moreland and the pair began arguing.

The victim told authorities that the date was not going well, so he dropped Moreland back off on the street corner where he had picked him up.

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After about 20-30 minutes, the victim received a text message from Moreland asking to borrow $45 because “he had gotten a ticket.”

He told Moreland again that he did not have the money, but decided to pick him up to talk. The pair sat in the victim’s truck and talked for a short time.

During this time, Moreland shot the victim several times.

While the victim was trying to drive away, he crashed his truck into a ditch on Jones Road. Police and first responders arrived to transport him to a local hospital.

Detectives searched the truck and found the bottle of alcohol, along with shell casings.

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Security cameras captured the crime scene, and a JSO analyst was able to identify the person in the security video as Moreland.

Moreland was already at the Brevard County jail for unrelated crimes.

“There is probable cause to believe Moreland was the suspect who committed the Attempted Armed Robbery and Attempted Murder,” JSO said in the arrest report

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