The man who was wanted by authorities in connection to an Amber Alert for an 8-year-old boy has been charged with murder in a triple homicide at a Jacksonville, Florida apartment complex.
Police said three people were found dead at the River City Landing Apartments Friday morning, which are just north of River Road, across from the Jacksonville University campus, according to Action News Jax.
Family members identified the victims as Johnisha, Jamonica and Jordan Williams.
The Amber Alert was later issued for an 8-year-old boy, who was last seen at the same address. The alert said he had been kidnapped and was believed to be with 37-year-old Terrell Lewis, later determined to be the boy’s father.
According to JSO, Lewis was booked just after 8:30 p.m. Friday on three counts of second-degree murder.
Family members told local news that the child’s mother was one of the victims found at the apartment.
Court records show Lewis has a criminal history, including a few domestic battery arrests with the most recent from 2016. The charges were dropped but Johnisha filed a restraining order.
In 2018, Johnisha requested the court to forgive Terrell for his past, saying it was hard on their son and that he had been given another chance.
In 2019, the restraining order was lifted.
Lt. Mike Silcox, with JSO’s investigations division, said officers were called about 7:30 a.m. to a welfare check at the apartment complex. A 911 caller said a neighbor heard an argument and a loud noise, Silcox said.
When police arrived, according to Silcox, they found three adults, ranging in age from 25 to 30, dead of gunshot wounds.
A family member said things took a turn for worse when they realized they didn’t know where her 8-year-old cousin was.
“My aunt, which is their mother, she called and said she couldn’t get in contact with any of them and that there was a killing out here — that three people got killed in the apartments where they live and to go out there to find out what’s going on,” the family member said. “That’s when I came out there to see what was happening and it’s them.”
Video showed what appeared to be the vehicle that was sought in the Amber Alert — a black Suzuki Forenza — being towed from an apartment complex on Atlantic Boulevard near Pottsburg Creek. It was about four miles away from the scene of the murder.
“I was just sitting in my room watching tv and I got an Amber Alert on my phone, and usually I don’t pay much mind to them, but something told me to look,” she said.
She spotted a black car outside, and compared the license plate with the one on the car wanted by investigators, realizing it was a match.
“Then we gave the call. We saw some police show up and from there the guy was handcuffed and the child seemed to be safe so that was good,” the woman continued.
After the Sheriff’s Office said both were located, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later tweeted, saying the issue was resolved and the child was found safe just before 4 p.m. The alert was first issued just before 2:30 p.m.
Lewis is expected to make a court appearance Saturday morning. Jamonica’s mother is now caring for the 8-year-old child.
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