Family pleads for answers in shooting death of Jacksonville father

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a Jacksonville father killed last month is pleading for answers in his shooting death.

Loved ones of Vincent Samuels II, gathered Saturday on East 25th Street, where Samuels, 29, was shot and killed May 18. Loved ones said he was sitting in a car when he was shot.

“He was my only son, my only son,” said Terry Samuels, his mother. “I miss him dearly.”

Terry Samuels is left with one child, Kristian Perry.

“My baby -- just the life of the party, very loving and caring,” said Perry, Vincent Samuels’ older sister. “He has a daughter that is going to be missed.”

Betty Walker, Vincent Samuels’ grandmother, was the first in the family to receive the call Vincent Samuels had been shot.

“By the time I got there, he had already died,” Walker said. “I probably don’t remember the next few hours.”

MAD DADS (Men Against Destruction-Defending Against Drugs and Social-Disorder) organized a walk Saturday to canvas the area.

“He was a grandson to me. I just loved him,” said Catherine Rawls, a friend. “When the mother called me to tell me he got shot, it just terrified me to death. It took something out of me.”

Saturday’s walk was one of several to take place in recent months, but organizers said they are doing fewer walks these days.

“The reason for that is Marsy’s Law. We are not getting the information from JSO (the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) to reach the families,” said AJ Jordan, MAD DADS outreach coordinator. “There are plenty of families that need our help, and we want to help them, but with Marsy’s Law, it makes it difficult.”

The Jacksonville chapter of MAD DADS can be reached on social media.

Anyone with information about Vincent Samuels’ death is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).