JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Saturday, MAD DADS of Jacksonville canvassed the neighborhood where a Jacksonville grandmother was killed, looking for answers to help police make an arrest.
On June 13, Cassandra Brown was shot and killed on Everson and Grothe during a block party.
It’s the same street where Brown witnessed a shooting one year before she was killed. She told police what she saw and testified in court about the shooting.
MAD Dads canvas neighborhood where a Jacksonville grandmother was killed, looking for answers. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)
Volunteers and family members talked with people about what happened last month, hoping that divine intervention would help them overcome any fear they may have.
“I know they are afraid, but if they get on their knees and pray and ask God if God will reveal them to do what they have to do and because some people are afraid to come forward, but that shouldn’t stop them,” Deidre Vine, the godmother of Brown’s children said.
A.J. Jordan with MAD DADS helped lead the way and leaving no stone unturned in this neighborhood in North Jacksonville.
“We’re hoping to energize the community,” Jordan said. “We’re going to be going door to door, talking to the neighbors and residents about what happened on June 13, and we’re hoping that by putting these flyers in their hands that they will call Crime Stoppers or MAD DADS to get the information to police so we can get this persons or persons into custody and off our streets.”
Roderick Dorsey was there for his friend, hoping to encourage someone to step up. He and his family said the heat was on Brown for the case she testified in and she was scared for her life.
The case she testified in sent a woman to prison for 30 years, according to court records.
“She’s trying to step up for herself, to tell somebody that she was having a problem with these people, but then when the dude does something, they don’t try to help her,” Dorsey said.
MAD Dads canvas neighborhood where a Jacksonville grandmother was killed, looking for answers. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)
News4JAX asked JSO about more protections for witnesses and an update on the case and have not heard back, but we were previously told, “This investigation is ongoing and detectives continue to work diligently.”
Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said protections exist for witnesses but mostly during trials and are generally at a higher lever for federal cases.
“Once that trial happens, coverage or protection usually kind of wanes away,” Hackney said.
The crowd going door-to-door is making sure her memory doesn’t go away.
“She was a good woman to everybody in the neighborhood,” Vine said. “If you need something, she was there. If you need to cry on her shoulder, she was there. If you didn’t have it, she had it. It wasn’t nothing.”
Anyone with information is asked to call JSO at (904) 630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.