LaVilla postpones FCATs after student killed

Titania Mitchell was shot in her Godmother's home

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, was postponed Monday at LaVilla School of the Arts to help students grieving the loss of a 13-year-old classmate over the weekend.  It was set to begin on Tuesday.

Titania Mitchell, 13, was shot and killed inside her Godmother's home Saturday afternoon.  She was in the home with a group of younger children.  No adults were in the home, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

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Police believe it was an accident and one of the children pulled the trigger.

Grief counselors were at the LaVilla on Monday to help friends and other students mourn Mitchell, who was a dance student at the school.

Titania Mitchell

Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti said he wants to give the school time at least a day to deal with the loss.

"In an effort to comfort the students and faculty members directly affected by such an enormous tragedy, we have assigned grief counselors and related services to support them. In addition, I requested to delay the start of FCAT testing until Tuesday and the request was approved by the FDOE," said Vitti. 

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is expected to release more information about the shooting Monday.

Detective Rob Schoonover with the Jacksonville Sherriff's Office said this tragedy is a reminder of the importance of securing your weapon.

"All too often we hear about kids playing with guns and something like this tragically happening…adults need to know that these guns need to be secured, unloaded, and put somewhere where they can't have access to kids, and in this case it appears that did not happen," said Schoonover.

John Harrell of the Department of Children and Families agrees. He said children should never handle guns without supervision.

"Children should know that if they see a gun around to tell an adult immediately and to never leave a gun unattended in reach of a child," said Harrell.