JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother spoke out Wednesday about the tragic death of her son, who was killed in an ambush shooting last month in Waycross.
Jeremy Brookins, 30, of Jacksonville, was killed and a 29-year-old man was wounded in a shooting early March 10, at a Waycross, Georgia, hotel. Veronica Dixon-Brookins, Brookins' mother, said her son was part of the entourage for Jacksonville rap artist Yungeen Ace, who had performed at a concert at a nightclub before the shooting occurred.
"The boys that shot my son, I wish that they could get into my head so they can see the pain that they caused," Dixon-Brookins told News4Jax.
She said her son wanted to be involved in the music industry, particularly with rap music. That lifestyle, Dixon-Brookins said, is what put him in a cemetery on Jacksonville's Northside. With tears filling her eyes, she said she's mad about last month's shooting after the concert featuring musician Kenyatta Bullard, who performs as Yungeen Ace.
"My son was part of his entourage," Dixon-Brookins said.
Bullard wasn't injured in the attack in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn in Waycross. He also survived a June 2018 quadruple shooting that unfolded on Town Center Parkway. His brother, Trevon, and two friends were killed in that shooting. In the latest shooting in Waycross, Brookins didn't walk away.
"They were using high-powered rifles. It was a setup and it wasn't my son they were after," his mother said. "He died trying to find out what was going on."
Dixon-Brookins said she believes there was some sort of "feud" or "as they say, 'beefing'" and her son was caught in the middle.
"I can't even imagine another person feeling the way I feel," she said.
Since her son's death, Dixon-Brookins said she has fought to get information from police, yet has received almost none from any of the people her son was with early March 10.
"All those boys that were there with my son when he was killed, not one of them has reached out to me to say how sorry they are," she said. "None of them has helped do anything, shown any remorse."
Now, she is demanding justice in the case of her son -- justice she worries won't be coming.
"That's street. They don't talk. They don't tell," Dixon-Brookins said. "It's a shame because only more people are going to get killed until somebody speaks out. Only more families are going to be torn apart."
The Waycross Police Department confirmed to News4Jax that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is now involved in the investigation because so many Jacksonville people were involved.
According to Waycross police, three Jacksonville men believed to be with Bullard were arrested on unrelated charges hours after the shooting. Waycross police told News4Jax they've had some leads so far in the shooting, but so far, no "hard suspects."