JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mikyh White was a funny, intelligent and deeply loyal young man with big dreams and an even bigger heart, his mother, Taylor White, told News4JAX.
“He loved his family. He loved hard,” Taylor said. “He had a smile that could brighten up any room.”
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But that bright light was snuffed out at just 19 years old when Mikyh was shot and killed in the Fairfax neighborhood.
Taylor remembers her son leaving home the morning of Sept. 9, 2023, to go to a music studio with friends.
“I remember yelling, ‘I love you too, son. See you later,’” she said.
It was the last time she would see him alive.
Later that afternoon, Taylor returned home to find police tape blocking her street. Believing her son was still at the studio, she tried calling him to let him know not to come home.
He never answered.
“I had no idea (investigators) already had his phone,” Taylor said.
Mikyh had been found shot and lying in the road on Melrose Avenue just after 2 p.m. that day, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Investigators said the accused shooter, Kenneth James Jr., pulled Mikyh from his car, left his body on the street, drove to Jacksonville Beach, dumped the vehicle, threw the gun into the ocean and took an Uber home.
A few days later, a surfer found the firearm in the water and called police. Prosecutors said phone data, surveillance video, DNA evidence and witness testimony linked James to the killing.
James, who was initially charged with second-degree murder, was later indicted by a grand jury on a first-degree murder charge.
Taylor said hearing evidence during the trial — including testimony detailing the final moments of her son’s life — was overwhelming. She often had to step out of the courtroom to protect her mental health.
“As a mother, there are just things you can’t unhear,” she said.
Following the four-day trial, jurors deliberated for less than 45 minutes before finding James guilty of killing Mikyh.
“That verdict gave us peace,” Taylor said. “For the first time, it felt like we could breathe.”
James now faces a mandatory life sentence and is expected to be sentenced within the next two weeks.
Taylor said she is committed to ensuring Mikyh’s name and legacy are never forgotten. She said her bond with her son only grew stronger as he entered young adulthood.
He trusted her, sought her advice and shared his goals openly — from real estate investing to stock trading to launching his own clothing line.
“He would tell me, ‘Ma, I’m gonna make us millionaires,’” she said. “And I believed him.”
While Mikyh’s ambitions were sadly cut short, Taylor said she plans to bring the clothing line he dreamed about to life this year,
She is also launching an organization in her son’s honor called MIKYH — an acronym for My Intelligent, Kind Young Heart.
“His life mattered,” Taylor White said. “And I will make sure people know who Mikyh White was.”