18-year-old’s family pleads for help finding his killer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a former Lee High School football player Malik Brown came forward Monday afternoon asking for information his murder Friday night.

Brown's family was joined by members of the clergy and Jacksonville City Council to discuss his death and the lack of arrests.

Brown, who has a young child, was home from college on winter break when he was shot and killed. Brown graduated last year from Lee High School with a 3.8 GPA and was playing football at Warner University.

Brown's parents also spoke about his killing, which they want justice for.

Both his parents spoke, but it was extremely difficult for his father, who struggled to say how he was feeling.

"They took my son. That's how I feel," Maurice Brown said.

"I don't wish that on nobody. It's like, as a community we need to come together and stop the violence, period," said Brown's mother Antoinette Roberts.

There will be a community vigil for Brown at 6 p.m. Tuesday in front of the Family Dollar on Kings Road near, where he was killed.

"This is my family and also my community," relative Brittany Herndon said. "I was born and raised in the Northside of Jacksonville, so I am very related to this situation. Right now we want to make a plea to the community. If anyone knows anything, anything at all -- any leads or any witnesses -- Please come forward. Please say something."

The group is also setting up a community plan to stop continuing violence in the same Jacksonville neighborhoods.

The family held Monday’s news conference at the Cochran Law Firm because Brown had a relative who works there and the whole firm is devastated.


About the Author:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.