Girl killed in hit-and-run on Jacksonville’s Arlington Road
A teen girl was discovered dead in a culvert of Arlington Road where someone also crashed into a fence and left the scene Tuesday evening, Sept. 30.
First Coast News
- A 13-year-old girl was killed in a hit-and-run while walking home in Jacksonville.
- Police arrested a 54-year-old suspect after finding him asleep in his truck.
Thirteen-year-old Genesis Webber was struck by a vehicle while walking home and left in a culvert before being discovered unresponsive. Two days later the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced it has the driver in custody who hit and killed her.
The Sheriff’s Office said the girl was likely struck between 7:15 and 9:15 p.m. Sept. 30 in the 700 block of North Arlington Road. Surveillance footage from the area showed a truck veering off the road, hitting Genesis on the sidewalk, crashing through a chain-link fence and continuing on.
Investigators discovered evidence at the scene that quickly led them to identifying a suspect and then utilized the Sheriff’s Office Crime Analysis Unit and Real Time Crime Center to track the vehicle and learn where it had been throughout the day. They discovered the man was out on bond on felony charges and wearing an ankle monitor, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office Corrections Department joined the investigation by providing locations where the suspect frequents. Late on Oct. 1, officers located 54-year-old Andre William Myers asleep inside his truck. He was booked into the jail early the next morning on a charge of leaving the scene of crash without rendering aid involving death.
Court records show Myers has a criminal traffic history that includes charges of driving while license is suspended or revoked in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
“The loss of any life is tragic, but the loss of an innocent young life makes this case much more difficult,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “We hope this quick arrest brings peace to Genesis’s family and friends while they mourn her loss.”
Shardae Webber told First Coast News that her daughter was a seventh-grader at Southside Middle School and was walking home like usual after getting off the after-school activity bus. She was deeply rooted in church, baptized last month and loved cheerleading, softball and dance. The family has a GoFundMe set up.
“Everybody loved her,” Webber told First Coast News. “She lit up a room. She had gray eyes. She was beautiful. She looked like a baby doll.”