ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — "Oh my gosh, we were gobsmacked. Just speechless," Judy Dembowski described the way she and many others felt when they heard that Jason Mullins had been shot and killed.
"He was a wonderful man. Really was," she said.
Dembowski runs various homeless programs in the area. She knew Mullins, 50, because he was recently on the board of St. Augustine Society Inc., which oversees programs for the homeless such as Port in the Storm and the St. Francis House.
"Jason was such a nice man. Such a good guy. Compassionate about making sure the homeless were served. He was generous with his time," Dembowski noted.
Friday, police revealed that Mullins and Vance Wilkins, 34, of St. Augustine were at the Pub on Anastasia (formerly the British Pub) early Thursday morning.
Officer Dee Brown with the St. Augustine Police Department told the media Friday, "There was not a fight. They exchanged words. I wouldn’t call it an altercation with a lot of pushing and shoving. But they exchanged words inside the bar."
The police report indicates Wilkins sent a text to a witness which said “About to kill someone.”
Police say later Wilkins and Mullins were outside in the alley behind the pub. Police say that’s when Mullins was shot, around 1:45 a.m. The police report indicates a witness saw a man shoot the victim, the victim fell to the ground and the witness saw the suspect "stand over the victim and continue to fire the gun at him multiple times from close range."
According to the police report, the autopsy shows Mullins was shot ten times.
The motive?
"At this time we don’t know the motive," Officer Brown said. "The two men knew each other from the bar."
Surveillance videos and license plate reader technology helped police track down Wilkins later that day, according to police.
As for Mullins, friends say he was a father of two children, loved the water, was active in the Catholic Church, and will be deeply missed by many.
"Nobody deserves this," Demboski said, "Nobody deserves this."