The anniversary of a racist shooting that shocked and rocked Jacksonville three years ago still stings enough to draw tears from the families of the people murdered by a white supremacist in Jacksonville’s Grand Park neighborhood.
They gathered Wednesday evening beside a memorial at Kings Road Memorial Park to commemorate the lives of Angela Carr, Jerrald Gallion and Anolt “A.J.” Laguerre Jr.
The trio of strangers was slain on Aug. 26, 2023, at a Dollar General store by a Clay County man with intention to harm Black people.
‘Say their names’
Angela Carr’s family members shed tears as they remembered the 52-year-old mother and grandmother with a candlelight vigil.
Jerrald Gallion’s family sat solemnly in the front row of the tree-laden park amid the reflections. Some wore T-shirts with his face on it, others had “Forever 29” written on the back of their T-shirts in honor of the 29-year-old father who doted on his daughter.
A.J. Laguerre’s family held pictures of the 19-year-old Dollar General employee who loved video games.
Faith-fueled reflections
Tonya L. Brown remembered the victims with a series gospel songs. Unbeknownst to Brown, her song, “Total Praise,” was also sung at Carr’s memorial service on September 8, 2023.
In her remarks to the families, Michele Godfrey-Watson, founder of Refresh Ministries International, invoked a passage from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah about nations seeing the light in people amid the darkness of the earth.
Later, Godfrey-Watson challenged all of Jacksonville.
“We have a responsibility. We gotta build lives that remember them every day. And, we have to turn remembrance into responsibility and turn grief into service,” Godfrey-Watson said. “We have to turn memory into action because we light the way forward when we create a Jacksonville where people can live, where they can work, where they can shop, they can worship, thy can raise their families and pursue their dreams without fear because of the color of their skin.”
Dozens gather at Kings Road Memorial Park on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the Dollar General shooting. A white supremacist shot and killed Anolt (A.J.) Laguerre Jr., Jerrald Gallion and Angela Carr on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, because they were Black. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Gallion, Carr and Laguerre all died on that blisteringly hot Saturday afternoon. Nine others who were inside and around the store escaped harm when the perpetrator who wrote about his hatred of Black people opened fire.
They declined to attend Wednesday’s memorial, yet they were recognized as victims as well.
“Because Angela lived, we will love harder,” Godfrey-Watson said. “Because A.J. lived, we will protect the promise of our young people. Because Gerrald lived, we will value family, community and one another more deeply. Because their lives were taken through hatred, we become even more determined to build a community where love is stronger than hate.”
Commemoration and community collaboration
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said this week is a reminder at how far Jacksonville has come.
Wednesday’s anniversary of the Dollar General shooting is immediately followed by the 66th anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday, when a mob, enabled by police inaction, chased and beat peaceful civil rights demonstrators, including teens, with ax handles because they’d sought to desegregate lunch counters.
Together, Deegan says, the anniversaries also represent the work that remains to make the River City an equitable city where opportunities, health outcomes and more are the same in Grand Park as they are in Mandarin, at the Beaches and elsewhere.
“For me, in terms of the Grand Park situation, it happened very early in my administration. That is just seared into my soul, the feeling of helplessness that I, as the mayor of this city, could not prevent that from happening,” Deegan said Wednesday morning.
“We can prevent it by continuing to see each other’s humanity and work toward that purpose. I think we have a lot of people that see that. I think we have moved in that direction. But, we’ve got a ways to go. When I see those anniversaries, it’s very important to mark them, because people have to remember or else we continue to repeat the same things all over again.”
Wednesday evening’s prayers requested spiritual assistance to ensure Jacksonville never has to gather to grieve anyone else who is killed exclusively because of their skin tone.
The skies threatened rain as faith leaders, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office leadership, U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon and multiple Jacksonville City Council members spoke.
The heavens held off long enough for the hourlong memorial to finish without interruption.
Time may have passed. The memories of Laguerre, Gallion and Carr remain.
Laguerre’s older brother, Quan Laguerre, was one who ensures that is the case. After Wednesday’s commemoration, he walked along 11th Street with a picture of his younger brother tucked underneath his arm.
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