Northwest Jacksonville shooting ties to revenge

He was seeking revenge on the man he believed shot in to a family’s home, and now police say he’s in custody.

We’ve obtained the police report for 33-year-old Martin Luther King, who is now charged with Second Degree Murder and two counts of Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon relating to a Northwest Jacksonville shooting.

A witness told police King said he was going to retaliate against the man he believed shot in to his wife’s grandmother’s home.  King believed that man was Steveonte Stephens.

On January 9^th, police say King shot in to a vacant lot at 1922 West 25^th Street just before 1 PM.  Andrew Stephens was shot and killed, Steveonte Stephens and Deangelo Bryant were shot, but are expected to recover.  Two occupied homes in the immediate area were also hit.  Witnesses reported seeing a man approach wearing a ski mask and assault rifle.

Police say King ran off after the shooting.  Before getting in a car and driving away, another witness told police he saw King remove his mask.  That person then picked King out of a photo lineup and identified him as the shooter.

The witness who initially reported King’s intent to shoot Stephens told police that hours after the fact, King called him to confess his role in the shooting.