JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman is shaken after her friend is killed in a murder-suicide on Jacksonville’s westside.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Ryan Chesser, 33, was shot and killed at his home on Brian Lakes Drive early Saturday morning.
The suspect is Chesser’s ex-boyfriend, Jacoby Lamar King, 26, who police said shot Chesser and three other people before taking his own life.
“That’s what that guy did,” Chesser’s friend, Elaine Bowen, told First Coast News. “He took a good person out of the world.”
Bowen remembers Chesser for his generosity.
“Anyone that knew Ryan, he did not have a bad bone in his body,” she said. “He would give you the shirt off of his back. He was a beautiful man inside and out.”
Chesser worked at a Coach store for over eight years and leaves behind a twin sister and a brother.
Bowen said she spoke with Chesser on his birthday – just three days before the shooting took place.
“Ryan was the person that if you were in the room with him if you were in a bad mood, you’d end up in a good mood,” she said.
She said she is startled by Chesser’s ex-boyfriend’s motive for killing him.
JSO said King saw Chesser and the other victim, Eric Bryant, out with two other people earlier that night.
“You question yourself on why did he do it. Why did he shoot Ryan and Eric and two other people?” Bowen said.
Chesser’s death leaves a hole in Bowen’s life.
“He’s an awesome person, and no one could ever replace him,” she said. “No one.”