JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With two months remaining in the year 2022, Duval County has surpassed the total number of homicides reported in Jacksonville for the year prior.
As of Tuesday evening, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, there were 132 reported homicides in 2022 — that’s four more than the total number reported at the end of 2021, according to News4JAX records.
Notably, News4JAX data from last year shows homicides in 2021 dropped by 28% from 2020, when the city reported a 23-year peak.
Families of those who lost their lives to violence this year include the mother of a Raines High School football player, who was shot and killed on his graduation night. She’s pleading for the city to find a way to curb the violence.
“We’ve got to take our city back,” said Janice Fields, the mother of Rashaud Fields. “That’s what I’m fighting for. For Jacksonville to take their city back. We need these kids.”
His parents have not given up hope that an arrest will be made in the death of their loved one. A billboard in Jacksonville pleads for information that leads to someone behind bars.
Rashaud Fields’ dreams were starting to come to life.
In May, he graduated from Raines High School and was on his way to playing football at the next level for Kaiser University.
But the 18-year-old never got the chance.
“I cry every night,” Yvonne Fields said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.”
Just hours after walking the stage, Fields was shot and killed on the Northside — on his way to a graduation party.
“My child, a good child, was one of the ones that fell victim to the streets,” Yvonne Fields said. “A person who didn’t do nothing. All he wanted to do was follow his dreams.”
Rashaud Fields’ 79-year-old neighbor and close family friend, Samuel Newnan, broke into tears remembering the teen.
Newnan described him a gentle giant who would go out of his way to help others, including going in and taking out their blind neighbor’s trash everyday.
“Why would an honest and decent person be taken — and then no one knows anything?” Newman asked.
JSO data reveals about 50% of this year’s homicide cases have been solved.
Fields’ case is part of the half that have not.
Through the pain, the teen’s loved ones are fighting to keep Rashaud Fields’ memory alive, and to find his killer.
“That’s why I ask if anybody knows something, say something.”
Anyone with information about the teen’s murder is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS