A vigil is being held Friday night for a 17-year-old who was shot and killed by a Jacksonville Sherriff's officer during a traffic stop earlier in January.
Kwamae Jones was killed on Jan. 5, after Officer N. E. Lawson fired several times, striking both Jones and another occupant of the vehicle he was in, according to police.
Family said that Jones was working to get his GED and they are now left demanding answers from JSO in the events that led up to his death.
Police said around 9:20 p.m., they observed a car traveling in the wrong direction on Moncrief Road near West 45th Street.
Officers say they tried to pull the vehicle over but it did not stop. The vehicle then crashed into another vehicle before slamming into the base of a pedestrian bridge, police said.
According to police, Lawson approached the vehicle and "some sort of exchange took place" before Lawson fired several times striking and killing Jones.
The other occupant of the vehicle was also hit by gunfire. That person was taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to police.
According to a news release from the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, JSO didn't notify the teen's family about his death. Jones' mother learned of her son's death from the mother of the driver of the vehicle.
A rifle was found in the backseat of the car, police said.
Jones' mothers said the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has not provided her with any information on the case. She’s also been turned away and told that no information can be released because an investigation is taking place.
The Jacksonville Community Action Committee is demanding the release of body cam footage from the shooting and is demanding that police are held accountable for their actions.
The Community Action Committee has previously called for police accountability in a December officer-involved shooting that also stemmed from a traffic violation.
In that case, 22-year-old Jamee Johnson was shot and killed by an officer after he was pulled over for a reported seatbelt violation, according to an attorney for the family.
Justice for Kwamae Jones
- WHO: Jacksonville Community Action Committee, community organizations, community members, family of Kwamae Jones
- WHAT: Vigil
- WHERE: West 45th Street and Moncrief Road near the Gate Gas Station
- WHEN: Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.