JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rewards in the unsolved murders of two young men were increased Wednesday in the hope that people who know what happened will come forward and help two grieving mothers get justice.
Jonah Golden, 19, was shot and killed April 23 at a house party on Liska Drive on Jacksonville's Westside. His mother, Rebecca Harp, added $5,000 of her own money to the reward, bringing the total to $8,000.
Cameron "Tyler" Hendrix, 25, was shot to death July 12 in the woods behind the Paradise Village Mobile Home Park on West Beaver Street while he was riding his bicycle. Hendrix's mother, Crystal Hall, contributed $2,000 to Crime Stoppers to increase the reward to $5,000.
"Several friends did see him on that bike ride. But to my knowledge, nobody saw him until after he was shot," Hall said.
Hall said somebody at Paradise Village knows more than they’re saying. She said Hendrix was looking for work, and as far as she knows, had no enemies.
"A friend called another friend and they called me and I hurried to the area and it was taped off and I start to get information about the appearance of the person and that he had a tattoo on his arm that said Crystal and that's my name so I kind of knew it was a high possibility that it was Tyler and they couldn't tell of course right away. But it did come out to that," Hall said.
Harp said her son was a sweet kid who worked two jobs, but had that night off, and went to the party on the other side of town. She said the pain of his loss has been unbearable. She said Golden told her something was wrong, and he had a premonition something bad was going to happen.
"He actually did give me some clues that he felt like something was wrong. As was reported after his death, he posted on Facebook, 'God, if this is my last day just let me come home to you.' But I had a couple conversations with him before that night that he thought something bad was about to happen to him," Harp said. "I think that the person that possibly shot Jonah or knows who shot Jonah is scared to come forward."
Wyllie Hodges, with Crime Stoppers said that in the house party murder, it’s “impossible for me to believe” that no one saw anything or knows what happened. He said the “code of silence the kids have has to be broken.”
"You know, 30-40 minimum, maybe more, people in the house, a fight breaks out and nobody knows who shot. I really can't believe that," Hodges said.
Hodges pointed out that tips to Crime Stoppers have resulted in arrests in 111 murders since he’s been there, and he hoped the Hendrix and Golden cases are soon solved, too.
Lysa Telzer, of Crime Stoppers, said the people who committed these “evil acts” have no idea how they’ve affected the families.
While the two cases are separate, both victims' mothers have one common goal.
"I don't need to know who they are, but I do need to know who shot and killed my son," Harp said.
Anyone with information is asked to anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.