JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 19-year-old man was arrested in a fatal shooting in East Arlington on Tuesday afternoon.
Jacksonville police said Christopher Charles told them he'd gotten into an argument over money with the victim, 33-year-old Ferneze Jones, and had been in an ongoing dispute for about six months.
Charles told police Jones left but threatened to come back and shoot up Charles' house in the 100 block of South Nadia Michelle Court, near Girvin Road and Atlantic Boulevard.
Police said Jones did return, and Charles had armed himself with an assault rifle in anticipation of his return.
Jones got out of his car and walked toward Charles' house, police said. They said Charles told him to leave, but Jones kept coming, and when he got to within five feet of him in the front yard, Charles shot him multiple times.
"After giving warnings to the victim to leave his property, he did not, and (Charles) fired on him four times, killing him," said Lt. Rob Schoonover, of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Police said Jones was not armed.
Schoonover said Charles told police he shot Jones in self-defense.
"In this case, our victim did not have any weapon," Schoonover said. "There was no physical contact. It was just a verbal (argument), and that does not give him the right to open fire on an individual, even though he was on his property."
"Based on the reports so far, there are somethings that make me question whether Mr. Charles should've been arrested for murder," said Attorney Eric Friday.
According to police, Charles said Jones also threatened to shoot him. Friday said if that's true, Charles had every right to defend himself.
"It doesn't matter if they're armed or not," said Friday. "If you believe someone is about to commit a forcible felony, you have right to use deadly force to stop the forcible felony."
Channel 4 Crime Analyst Ken Jefferson said there may be more evidence that police haven't made public, which led them to file murder charges.
"It's not uncommon for police to charge someone with a crime and later on have to drop it," said Jefferson. "That's not uncommon at all, so it's really left up to state attorney's office whether they'll file those charges."
Charles is charged with murder.