JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Amid a surge in violence across Jacksonville that has killed several people, including two children over the past week, MAD DADS sent a clear message to the community at its 16th annual Motorcycle Ride for Life event — violent crime won’t be tolerated.
This is the 16th year the anti-crime group has held the event, and although crime is overwhelming, MAD DADS president Donald Foy does not have plans to stop or scale back the event.
On Saturday LaTasha Hobbs, a mother who lost her son to gun violence, gathered with other grieving families for the motorcycle ride that started at the Adamec Harley Davidson store on Baymeadows Road and streched roughly 13 miles long to Edgewood Avenue South.
Leaders with MAD DADS have said for years that for Jacksonville to be a safe city, everyone needs to be on board with helping the police. Every dollar raised from the ride went toward the group’s mission of spreading the word about unsolved murders and breaking the code of silence.
When News4JAX spoke to Hobbs outside the Police Memorial Building Thursday, she was just hours from meeting with detectives working on her son’s case. It’s been six years since Maurice Hobbs was shot and killed. He’d turned 18 years old just two days before.
Ahead of her meeting, Hobbs wore Maurice’s picture on a pin next to her heart, along with the words “Maurice Strong” for people to see. She literally counts the days she’s had to live without him and without answers as to who is responsible for his murder.
“It’s been 2,436 days since my son was violently torn from me,” Hobbs said. “The moment of impact is with me, every moment of life for the rest of my life.”
Hobbs’ grief inspired a call to action. Not just for her son, but all sons and daughters lost to crime every day. She’s a familiar face at community events aiming to stop crime and encourage people to work with law enforcement.
“We’re all hurting,” Hobbs said. “Jacksonville is suffering, Jacksonville is bleeding, and it’s up to all of us to stop the bloodshed that continues to destroy families every day in our community.”
Tragically, the number of crimes in the community now includes the murders of two children. Kae’ Lynn Matthews was shot and killed last week at the JTB Apartment Complex on AC Skinner Parkway. Days later, a 6-year-old boy was shot and killed as he slept in his bed Wednesday morning. That child’s name has not been released publicly. The shootings that killed these children left several others dead or injured, including a 12-year-old boy.
“We’ve lost a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old to community gun violence, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s gut-wrenching,” Hobbs said. “I’ve been trying to make a difference for the last 6 and a half years so no other family has to walk this journey, and the shootings just continue to happen.”
More than anything, Hobbs says the community needs to step up, and not protect killers.
“These murderers have no regard for human life, bullets do not discriminate,” Hobbs said. “No one is safe in this Jacksonville community as long as these murderers are still walking free.”