A.G. Gancarski
A weekend of gunplay in Jacksonville, with multiple murders, found its sorriest lowlight with the killing of an infant near the Cleveland Arms apartment complex Sunday.
On Tuesday morning, the Baptist Ministers Alliance held a presser at that complex, addressing the murders over the weekend.
Cleveland Arms is no stranger to violence or community demonstrations after the fact. In March 2015, tensions steeped to a boil when a resident of the complex was shot multiple times by law enforcement.
In this case, the violence was not from an agent of the state, but because of a conflict between private citizens.
Ministers voiced their opposition to the violence, offering their churches as a “safe haven” for those looking to come forward and offer meaningful evidence.
Rev. Darryl Edwards maligned the “senseless violence” and the “tragic loss of life” that saw, in addition to the death of an infant, the death of the baby’s mother and another adult.
“Tragedies like this must come to an end,” Edwards said, with the hope of the pastors being “justice and closure.”
When asked if the event was simply a photo-op by a TV journalist, Edwards said “there are always critics.”
As the pastors spoke to media, 50 feet away two middle-aged men squabbled about something or other.
It was Tuesday before noon.
