Man killed overnight at Calloway Cove; 4th killed there this week

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Police said a man was shot dead in the early to mid 20s at the Calloway Cove Apartments around 11pm on Friday night. It’s the same complex on Moncrief Road where the Jacksonville sheriff shot dead four people three days ago.

No witnesses came forward during the deadly shooting and police did not release many details.

News4Jax tried to talk to residents in the area about crime at the complex, and one said he did not think policing was the right answer, but he was nervous about the number of shootings at the apartments.

Another said more lighting was needed at the complex to see who was coming and going.

After two men and a woman were shot dead early Tuesday morning in a unit in the complex, police arrested four teenagers who chased officers after they fled the scene.

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Police said the gang unit heard gunshots on Tuesday and then saw the car take off. The driver of the stolen vehicle – a 14-year-old girl – led authorities on a nearly three-kilometer chase that ended when an officer hit their car in a PIT maneuver. There were three guns in the car, police said.

Keon Lester, 18, along with two 17-year-olds and a 14-year-old are charged with murder and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. The public prosecutor is expected to prosecute all the suspects as adults.

Police referred to the apartment where two 30-year-olds and a 27-year-old were found dead as a “drug cage” where they found more than 100 oxycodone pills, a large ball of white powdery substance and a large quantity. of money.

The area has struggled with violent crime for years. Six years ago, the city council said that 4229 Moncrief Road is one of the most important places in the city where you would probably be the victim of a violent crime.

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“It’s sad because it’s just a situation that does not win,” said one man who told News4Jax he was not surprised by the violence. “Why not just put a police station in there?”

The man said the ages of the people involved in these crimes have a lot to do with their influence.

“It comes, in my opinion, from the household, because everyone is a follower now,” the man said.

News4Jax crime and security expert Ken Jefferson, who grew up in the Calloway Cove Apartments, said crimes like these were there and would remain there if the city leaders did not speak.

“There’s crime throughout Duval County, but it seems to be echoing over the years,” Jefferson said. ‘It has been plagued by violence for more than thirty years. So, until city leaders get to the sheriff, go with the community and everyone gets involved, it will continue. ”

Jefferson said the centuries did not surprise him because he said that crime does not discriminate, but that more can be done to eliminate the problem in the apartments.

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‘Four people are dead – what’s there to find out? You found drugs, you found a lot of money, you found weapons in a car that fled the scene. What is there to find out? It’s nothing to find out but that we’re going to work, ” Jefferson said.

News4Jax has reached out to the city council member representing Calloway Cove district as well as the owner of the complex. We have not heard of them yet.

All five murders this week in Jacksonville were in the 32209 zip code: the four at Calloway Cove and one on Iris Boulevard, just three blocks away.