‘I should’ve been the mom that he needed me to be:’ Mom of man accused in Nassau deputy death speaks

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — The mother of Patrick McDowell, the man accused of killing Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers in September, is speaking out.

A newly released FBI report details the interactions McDowell, 35, and his mother, Rena Jones, had in the days leading up to the shooting.

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Only Action News Jax’s Jessica Barreto spoke to McDowell’s mother about her son’s mental state.

‘I thought he was capable of doing it to himself’

Barreto called McDowell’s mother after looking through the FBI report. She was very open and forthcoming regarding her concerns about her son’s well-being, especially given the troubling and violent thoughts he shared with her.

But she didn’t expect the shooting to happen and said she wishes she would have done more to prevent Moyers’ shooting.

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McDowell, a retired Marine, had run-ins with the law before, including a drug possession arrest in 2019 in Duval County, which was referred to veterans treatment court.

Jones said this is not the son she raised. She shared with Action News Jax a photo of McDowell when he was 20-years-old and home on leave.

Barreto: “Did you ever think that he was capable of this?”

RELATED: What McDowell’s father wrote after the death of Nassau deputy

Jones: “I thought he was capable of doing it to himself after what he went through in Iraq.”

‘How can I help?’

She said he struggled with PTSD. In messages from early September between him and his mom, McDowell expresses anger after he said a friend robbed him of his phone and other belongings.

“I hate my life right now. I swear I am so close to just walking out of here and going to do something way wrong,” the message from McDowell to Jones said.

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When Jones asks how she can help, he asks her to find the friend so he can shoot him in the face.

“How can I help?” Jones asked McDowell.

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“Find the **** so I can go shoot him in the face,” McDowell replied.

“That’s not the answer,” Jones said.

She also tells him in a message, “I don’t need to know anything but that you’re OK. Don’t hurt anyone.”

‘Patrick wasn’t raised to be a thug’

The week after Jones sent that message, Deputy Moyers was fatally shot during a traffic stop -- once in the face and once in the back.

McDowell was later captured after a days-long manhunt and charged with murder.

“I just want to say to the deputy’s family that I am so sorry that my son did this,” Jones said. “Patrick wasn’t raised to be a thug. He just went down the wrong path with PTSD, and I couldn’t bring him back.”

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Still, she feels responsible for the tragedy.

“Do I feel guilty? Like it’s my fault? Yeah. Because I knew that he was in a dark place and I couldn’t help him,” she said. “I should’ve been the mom that he needed me to be and I wasn’t.”

McDowell faces 10 felony charges, including first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon on a K-9 officer. Through his lawyer, he has pleaded not guilty. His next hearing is on June 23.

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