LAKE CITY, Fla. — A family is mourning the loss of a teen killed by gunfire Tuesday night, while neighbors said they are worried about increased violence in Columbia County.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office said 17-year-old Dionne Leslie was shot and killed Tuesday night in a neighborhood in Lake City. Leslie's family told First Coast News Leslie was a student at Columbia High School and was "a great kid." Leslie's family also said they are "at a loss for words."
Another teen was injured in the shooting Tuesday.
Neighbors said they have seen an increase in violence in the city over the past few years. With no one in custody, they said they're even more worried.
"It pains me that someone lost their life, particularly in a murder, and for what I can tell, it was unnecessary," former Lake City City Council member Glenel Bowden said.
Bowden never knew Leslie, but he knows his story all too well.
"It appears to me that there's been an increase in teen violence and violence in general," Bowden said.
According to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the violent crime rate in Columbia County increased by almost 5% from 2018 to 2019. Bowden said he does not want Leslie to be another story of violence in his hometown, though. He wants Leslie’s death to change things.
“I hope that this is not an incident that we just have a service next weekend, everybody forget about it. This should be a rallying point, a some reason for the community to come together, you know, and to talk about not only the violence in the community, but the lack of jobs and housing," Bowden said. "I mean, there’s a lot of issues in Lake City, the same as in Jacksonville. They [Lake City] just has it on a smaller scale, but the impact is the same."
Neighbors told FCN Tuesday they are worried and scared, and said they have noticed an increase in violence over the past few years. They didn't want to talk on camera for fear for their safety.
”There's no respect for each other, and there's absolutely zero respect for the young community, for the law enforcement community," Bowden explained. "So, that's one of the reasons that you were told, 'I don't want to go on camera,' because they got as much fear of young thugs. They do not communicate with law enforcement, because they're afraid."
To change things in Lake City, Bishop Andrew Haynes of Abundant Love Christian Worship Center in town, said he agrees with Bowden, that the community has to come together.
“I believe we can build something and work together as a community to have something for our young adults to be able to do something to keep their mind focused on something positive. versus something negative," Haynes said.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have anyone in custody in Leslie’s death, but a spokesperson says an ATV was driving in the area around the time of the shooting and could be connected.
If you have any information, you’re asked to call the Sheriff’s office wants you to call them at 386-719-2005. You can also submit a tip through Crime Stoppers of Columbia County at 386-754-7099.
