JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police say Vance Wilkins, 34, is facing charges for 2nd degree murder in the deadly shooting of Jason Mullins, 50. First Coast News has obtained the arrest report from St. Augustine police which sheds new light on the details of the murder and texts sent by Wilkins before the shooting.
Police arrived to the 200 block of Anastasia Boulevard just before 2 a.m. on Thursday in reference to a shooting. The responding officer saw multiple people huddled behind The Pub in what looked like a "frantic" situation, according to the report.
Several people were kneeling over a man who was lying on the ground in a pool of blood with multiple gunshot wounds, later identified as Mullins. Officers did try to perform CPR on Mullins. He was declared dead at the scene, the report said. An autopsy later determined Mullins was shot ten times.
The shooting
Investigators then went to O'steens and The Pub to try and further understand what led to the shooting. The next section of the arrest report is redacted but then goes on to detail Wilkins movements step by step.
A Toyota Tundra truck, which might have been driven by the suspect, parked behind O'Steens, near a dirt alley. Mullins walked out of The Pub into the alleyway. Wilkins walked toward The Pub, reportedly moving his hands near his waistband in a way that looked like "a subject concealing or manipulating a concealed weapon", the report said.
Mullins then walked to the back of O'Steens where Wilkins approached him. The two appeared to communicate before Wilkins took off for the parked truck, according to the report. Mullins laid on the ground, motionless.
Police did later interview Wilkins.
"It's about to go down"
Police recorded interviews with two witnesses, per the report.
The first witness told investigators they saw a white man who was dressed in dark clothing shoot the victim at a close range before they watched the victim fall.
The second witness told police they received a text from Wilkins about 15 minutes before the shooting, at 1:31 a.m., which said "About to kill someone". The witness replied and asked, "Why would you want to kill someone?" to which Wilkins replied "F*** Jason", per the report. The witness responded "What" and then texted again "What's going on!".
Wilkins replied "It's about to go down".
Wilkins is being held in St. Johns County without bond.
If you have any information or surveillance video of the incident, please contact Detective Drouin at cdrouin@staugpd.com or 904-209-3487.