JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An arrest has been made in Tuesday's shooting in Murray Hill that left a 17-year-old boy dead, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Josef D. Madison, 18, was arrested Thursday, and is charged with murdering Blaise Conner, a JSO news release states.
JSO says at approximately 8:35 p.m. on Tuesday, officers responded to the 4300 block of Post Street in reference to reported gunfire. Upon arrival, the sheriff's office says officers found Blaise Conner with "multiple" gunshot wounds.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to the scene, JSO says, and pronounced Blaise dead.
A witness told police that Blaise was involved in a fistfight earlier in the day on the day of the shooting, not far from where the shooting happened, according to Madison's arrest report.
A "concerned citizen," JSO says, recorded the fight on a cell phone which was then provided to a detective, the arrest report states. Another video of the fight was later obtained by JSO, as police matched the description of a male who was seen by the witness at the time of the shooting, with a male who was seen in the video, the report states.
An unknown male, due to a redacted arrest report, told police that he was at the fight mentioned by the witness. He said after the fight, he and Madison went to Murray Hill Park with several other individuals who were present during the fight, the report states. He further told police that after he and Madison left the park, both started walking to his house.
The unknown male said to police that while he and Madison were walking to his house, they walked past Blaise who was with an "unknown black male" near Murray Hill Church, the report states. The unknown male told police that once they passed Blaise and the unknown Black male, Madison "made a statement referring to the victim [Blaise], at which time the victim [Blaise] turned around, pulled his mask down, and responded to Madison," the report states. The sequence of events that followed afterwards are redacted in the arrest report.
JSO says Madison was located by investigators at his job before he was brought to the Police Memorial Building for an interview and later arrested. The sheriff's office also states in the arrest report that Madison entered a plea deal to the felony charges of "carrying a concealed firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon" in a separate case on Jan. 19, 2023. JSO says adjudication of delinquency was withheld and as a result, Madison is prohibited from possessing a firearm until he turns 24.
Family reacts to Blaise's death
Blaise's uncle William Conner told First Coast News on Thursday that Blaise was a good young man and his family wants justice, adding that he wants to see the people behind Blaise's death be put in prison.
"I'm honestly at a complete loss of what to say, I just miss my baby brother and can't believe someone just took him like that from us like it was nothing," Blaise's sister Chloe Conner told First Coast News also on Thursday.
Sara Mari Right says her son was good friends with Blaise and that he was often at her house. She says her son is very upset. She describes them as "just normal kids."
Blaise's uncle told First Coast News that the first photo below of Blaise is from a "few years ago."
