JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacquez Anlage would have turned 26 this year.
But instead of counting candles for his cake, his mother is keeping track of a different number.
“It’s been 1,895 days, and some days, it still feels like Day 1,” Crystal Anlage said of the time that has passed since Jacquez was gunned down at the Arco Place Apartments on Oct. 17, 2020. “It doesn’t get easier; you just learn how to carry it.”
Crystal spoke with News4JAX on Christmas Day, sharing how she and the community of gun violence survivors she has built support each other during the holidays -- and other hard times.
“Even when we don’t have answers from police, just hearing from another mother, ‘You can do this. You’ve got this, and it’s going to be OK.’ We all get through this together,” Crystal said.
That support is needed even more around the holidays.
“We definitely feel his presence, but it’s not the same. Christmas isn’t the same,” Crystal said.
Jacquez was just 20 years old when he was killed, and this year marks his family’s sixth Christmas without him.
Crystal said Jacquez was a jokester, and the family often shares laughter when they remember him.
“Some sadness, too, and that’s OK,” Crystal said. “We always wear him with us.”
She said Jacquez always looked forward to opening gifts at the holidays -- and to his grandmother’s cooking.
“We don’t do traditional Christmas. We do Mexican food and homemade cookies, and he loved my mom’s cookie baking party,” Crystal said.
The Anlage family’s grief is made all the more difficult because it comes with a weight of uncertainty. They are still seeking answers in Jacquez’s murder.
Last month, Crystal was able to erect a prominent billboard near EverBank Stadium through funding from Season of Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to cold cases.
The billboard featuring Jacquez’s case went up along Union Street, near the Matthews Bridge, and asks “Who murdered Jacquez Anlage?”
It’s a question Crystal believes someone in the community holds the answer to.
“Somebody out there knows something. Somebody saw something. Somebody heard something. I’m just begging you that you come forward,” Crystal said. “No family should have to spend Christmas without their kid.”
Anyone with information about the shooting that took the life of Jacquez Anlage is asked to call JSO at 905-630-0500 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.