JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As a Jacksonville family prepares to lay a 4-year-old girl to rest, neighbors on the city’s Northside are coming together to show support after a shooting that also left the child’s 27-year-old mother and 2-year-old sister fighting for their lives.
The shooting happened Tuesday on Traci Lynn Drive, the city’s Northside. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says the children’s father has been arrested as the suspected shooter. Police did confirm a known history of domestic violence between the suspect and the children’s mother.
In the days since the shooting, a memorial of stuffed animals and flowers has continued to grow outside the family’s home.
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For neighbors like Ella Bedwell, the tragedy has been difficult to process.
“It was chaotic,” Bedwell said, describing the scene as law enforcement officers responded to the shooting.
Bedwell lives just a few doors away from the family and said she felt compelled to help after learning what had happened.
“Something like this to hit so close to home, I wanted to at least try to rally everyone together and show our support,” Bedwell said.
She has since organized a candlelight vigil scheduled for Friday night, inviting neighbors to come together to honor the life of the 4-year-old girl and support the family.
“We will show up and we will do what we can with what resources we have and just show people that we care,” Bedwell said.
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The support extends beyond people who personally knew the family. Bedwell said the shooting serves as a reminder that tragedy can strike any community.
“We’re so closed up in our own little world that sometimes we forget this can happen anywhere,” she said. “I wanted them to know that we’re here and this goes for anybody in our community.”
Another neighbor, DeDe Bent, said the family is well known in the neighborhood.
“I lived over here for 20 years and we all know each other,” Bent said. “Everybody in the neighborhood knows each other.”
A growing memorial now sits in the family’s front yard as neighbors continue stopping by to pay their respects. Bedwell, who is also the mother of a 4-year-old child, said she cannot imagine the pain the family is enduring.
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According to Florida Health Charts data, reported domestic violence incidents in Duval County reached a historic low in 2020. Since then, the number of reported cases has increased every year.
The county recorded between 3,700 and 3,900 reported domestic violence cases in 2021 and 2022. That number rose to between 5,000 and 5,200 reported cases in 2023 and 2024, the highest levels recorded since 2006.
The candlelight vigil is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday on Traci Lynn Drive. Organizers are asking attendees to bring a candle and respect the family’s privacy while honoring the life of the child who was killed.
The children’s mother and 2-year-old sister remain hospitalized. Their conditions have not been released.
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