A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday morning, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry addressed local media on a number of subjects, including the shocking death of three-year-old Amari Harley in a Jacksonville park Sunday evening
Days after Amari Harley was found in an uncovered underground septic storage tank in Jacksonville’s Bruce Park, a tank normally topped by a “heavy rubber lid screwed down,” there are no ready answers.
A “complete review of the parks [and] processes” is underway, Curry said, with an active investigation happening.
“If the facts lead us to anywhere we need accountability in the city, there will be accountability,” Curry said. “The investigation has to happen, and we have to follow the facts … I will follow the facts, and where those facts lead, if mistakes were made, folks will be held accountable, processes will be strengthened, and this city will move forward.”
When given an opportunity to give a vote of confidence to Public Works Director John Pappas and Parks and Recreation Director Daryl Joseph, Curry redirected the question.
“We have to finish our review,” Curry said, “and the facts will lead us to the truth.”
When asked if the city had lost control of the narrative, Curry said that wasn’t the issue.
“Here’s what I care about. The idea that a family has lost a child. I’ve got three children,” Curry said, “and I can’t even imagine what they’re experiencing.”
“This city continues to mourn, and send out our prayers and thoughts to that family,” Curry added.
