JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Loved ones of a Northside couple who were hit and killed on New Kings Road in October said they finally feel as if they’re getting justice after a 19-year-old was charged with DUI manslaughter in the crash.
Sherman Morris was also charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of Anthony Jacobs, 57, and Selina Tobler, 41.
The couple had just left a nightclub near Finch Avenue around 2 a.m. Oct. 30 when they were struck while getting into their car. Morris was charged Thursday with their deaths.
Morris was driving his Jeep Cherokee 78 mph in a 45 mph zone and his blood alcohol level was just above the legal limit at the time, according to the arrest report. He lost control of his car and crashed into a bus stop near where Jacobs and Tobler were standing, sending their bodies flying and causing his Jeep to flip, the report said.
Toxicology showed Morris also had marijuana in his system, according to the report.
Morris and his passenger were taken to a hospital after the crash, and both recovered.
An arrest warrant was issued for Morris this month, and he turned himself in two days ago in Nassau County. He was booked into the Duval County jail Thursday morning on $280,000 bond.
The leader of the Northside Coalition, which is seeking change in the area, said he thinks an arrest should have been made sooner.
“We've been waiting for so long to get results, to find out what happened,” Northside Coalition organizer Ben Frazier said.
The coalition is a new activist group aiming for infrastructure improvements to what's known as the "Danger Zone,” on New Kings Road.
Jacobs and Tobler were among five pedestrians killed in that same stretch of New Kings Road over a two-month period this fall.
“JSO is always telling us of ongoing investigations in their reluctance to speak,” Frazier said. “Unfortunately, the whole idea about accountability and transparency still needs work at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.”
The arrest brought closure to one friend of Jacobs, who said his friend can finally rest in peace.
“We miss him, but we can't bring him back,” Ralph Murray said. “He's in a better place. Just keep moving.”
He said he feels for the young man accused in the crash, but he is glad to see his friend getting justice.
“It's one of those things to where, if you do the crime, you do the time,” Murray said. “And if justice is served then let justice be served.”