Current:Home > BackThe Jacksonville shooting killed a devoted dad, a beloved mom and a teen helping support his family-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
The Jacksonville shooting killed a devoted dad, a beloved mom and a teen helping support his family
View Date:2024-12-23 22:46:15
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A.J. Laguerre worked at a Dollar General store after finishing high school to help support the grandmother who raised him. Angela Michelle Carr was an Uber driver beloved by her children. Jerrald Gallion relished weekends with his 4-year-old daughter.
All three were slain Saturday when a gunman with swastikas painted on his rifle opened fire at the Dollar General where Laguerre worked in Jacksonville. The sheriff said writings left by the killer, a 21-year-old white man, made clear that he was motivated by racism. Each victim was Black.
“I never thought I’d have to bury my baby brother,” Quan Laguerre said Monday outside the family’s house not far from the store.
“They say don’t question God,” he said. “But I just want to know why.”
A.J. Laguerre, 19, was the youngest of five siblings, all raised by their grandmother after their mother died in 2009, his brother said. The family celebrated in 2022 when A.J., like his older siblings before him, graduated from high school. As he looked into going to college to study cybersecurity, he got a job at the Dollar General store several months ago to help their grandmother pay the bills.
When he was off the clock, A.J. played Fortnite and other videogames on the live-streaming platform Twitch, his brother said, using the gamer tag galaxysoul. His goal was to build a large online following.
“He had dreams and aspirations of being a professional streamer,” Quan Laguerre said. “So after he would get off work, he’d just stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning just grinding, you know, trying to get that stance and have followers.”
A.J. Laguerre was shot inside the store trying to flee the gunman, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told reporters.
Carr, 52, was killed in the parking lot when the shooter fired multiple bullets into her car.
Son Chayvaughn Payne told The New York Times that she was an Uber driver who was dropping off a friend at the store.
“My mother, she was a good woman,” Payne told The Associated Press in a brief phone call Monday.
Gallion, 29, was shot while enter the store’s front door with his girlfriend, who escaped.
“My brother shouldn’t have lost his life,” his sister, Latiffany Gallion, said. “A simple day of going to the store, and he’s taken away from us forever.”
At a prayer vigil Sunday evening, family members recalled Gallion’s sense of humor and work ethic. He saw his job as a restaurant manager as a way to provide for his daughter, Je Asia.
Although his relationship with the child’s mother didn’t last, they worked together to raise Je Asia. That earned him lasting affection from Sabrina Rozier, the child’s maternal grandmother.
“He never missed a beat,” Rozier said. “He got her every weekend. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to have her (Saturday).”
Gallion never made it to pick up his daughter. Now the pastor of the church he attended is preparing to bury him.
“In two weeks I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive,” the Rev. John Guns of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church said during the vigil. “He was not a gangster, he was not a thug — he was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together.”
veryGood! (74126)
Related
- Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
- Chaotic and desperate scenes among Afghans returning from Pakistan, say aid agencies
- Watch Mean Girls’ Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert Reunite in Grool Video
- Supreme Court seems ready to deny trademark for 'Trump Too Small' T-shirts
- Kristin Cavallari's Ex Mark Estes Jokingly Proposed to This Love Island USA Star
- Cornell University student accused of posting online threats about Jewish students appears in court
- Anger might help you achieve challenging goals, a new study says. But could your health pay the price?
- Connecticut officer charged with assault after stun gunning accused beer thief
- FSU football fires offensive, defensive coordinators, wide receivers coach
- Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top announce 2024 tour with stops in 36 cities: See the list
Ranking
- What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal conviction? Here are a few ways it could go
- Defendant in Tupac Shakur killing loses defense lawyer ahead of arraignment on murder charge
- A section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed after visitors allegedly try to hold a young bear
- Firefighters battling to contain Southern California wildfire though many homes remain threatened
- Minnesota man is free after 16 years in prison for murder that prosecutors say he didn’t commit
- Submissions for Ring's $1 million alien footage contest are here and they are hilarious
- Britney Spears’ memoir a million seller after just one week on sale
- State is paying fired Tennessee vaccine chief $150K in lawsuit settlement
Recommendation
-
1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
-
Realtors must pay home sellers $1.8 billion for inflating commissions, jury finds
-
Ohio State is No. 1, committee ignores Michigan scandal lead College Football Fix podcast
-
Can pilots carry guns on commercial flights? Incident on Delta plane raises questions
-
Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
-
Buybuy Baby is back: Retailer to reopen 11 stores after Bed, Bath & Beyond bankruptcy
-
Detroit-area man sentenced to 45-70 years in prison for 3 killings
-
Walmart to reopen over 100 remodeled stores: What will be different for shoppers