JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two teens have been arrested in connection to a 9-year-old girl who was shot in the throat last month at a home in the Mid-Westside area of Jacksonville, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced Wednesday in a press conference.
14-year-old Kayden Tuten and 15-year-old Nakendall Jackson are both being charged with attempted murder and shooting/throwing a deadly missile. Waters says the two will be charged as adults.
Waters says on July 20, 'shot spotter' alerted officers to a home in the 1500 block of West 19th Street at 9:19 p.m. in reference to gunshots fired. Upon arrival, officers found the unidentified girl seriously injured. According to one arrest report, four rounds were fired from the sidewalk in front of the home by the teens, in which penetrated through the front door. The two teens fled on foot after firing the rounds at the home, an arrest report indicates.
An arrest report also states that three 9 mm shell casings and a pistol-mounted flashlight were found at the scene of the shooting.
Police took the girl to a local hospital where Waters says Wednesday, that the girl remains in critical yet stable condition. She was also one of seven people in the home during when the shooting happened, and Waters says she was not the targeted victim in the shooting. No other injuries were reported in the shooting.
On July 24, an unknown person was interviewed by police at 11:50 a.m. regarding the shooting, when JSO learned that Jackson also goes by the name, "Hemi," according to an arrest report. The person told police they had not been in a relationship with Jackson and the last time they heard from him was "approximately two weeks ago through a direct message on Instagram." The report shows the person positively identified Jackson from a previous, single Clay County Sheriff's Office booking photo. At 5:56 p.m. on the same day, JSO's Gang Unit and the Citywide Community Response Unit were notified that Jackson had been taken into custody.
Waters says the teens' case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney's Office.
Acknowledging the privacy rights of a child victim, Waters says JSO will not be releasing any other additional information on the girl.
The Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida says kids who lack conflict resolution sometimes turn to guns to solve problems.
The club said if provides a safe environment for kids and teaches them to solve problems the right way.
It plans to expand its location at Clanzel T. Brown Park, which is a few minutes away from where the shooting happened.
“The teen center is going to be major so that’s going to add the ability to serve another 60 to 80 kids every day so we’ll be able to have middle to high school kids on one side of the building and we’ll have our elementary kids on one side of the building," Boys and Girls Club on Northeast Florida Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Kevin Carrico, said.