COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Lake City community is grieving after 16‑year‑old Ashia Moore was shot and killed. Her family and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office says she was seven months pregnant.
17‑year‑old Dominique Santonio Hill has been arrested and charged with tampering with evidence as deputies continue their investigation. A family friend told Action News Jax Hill was the father of Moore’s unborn child.
Ashia’s mother was too overwhelmed to speak, so she invited nearly a dozen of her daughter’s friends to share who Ashia was. They described her as loyal, full of life, and someone who made people feel together.
“She was a ball of the light, and she still is. She will forever be in my heart with me,” Sip Pierce, Ashia’s friend, said.
“She has always been loyal to anybody. It didn’t matter who she came across,” another friend, Jazmyane Mathis, said.
Columbia County deputies say they responded to Palm Villas around 4 p.m. Thursday and found Ashia dead on the ground. The same family friend told Action News Jax she found Ashia and called police after bringing her pizza and checking on her.
Her friends say they are devastated and never expected something like this to happen.
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“She was gonna be an amazing mother. She was seven months pregnant, and that was took from her,” Pierce said.
“I just was with her, and we would have never expected anything like this to happen,” Nakayla Johnson said.
Hill is being held at the Columbia County Detention Center with no bond. The family says he was out on bond at the time. Court records Action News Jax found show he was awaiting trial for robbery while armed with a weapon and burglary while armed.
“I pray they serve justice for my girl and her baby, and they’ll forever always be in my heart, no matter what,” Johnson said.
“She was an amazing friend. She was smart, funny. She made everybody feel together,” Kensley Jowers said.
The family friend says there had been past domestic incidents and wants to raise awareness for domestic violence. She says if you see something, say something.
If you have any information about the murder, contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
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