{"id":1035575,"date":"2026-08-31T20:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035575\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T20:39:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:39:13","slug":"parents-nonprofits-push-for-youth-mentorship-after-jacksonville-teen-killed-another-wounded-in-weekend-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035575\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents, nonprofits push for youth mentorship after Jacksonville teen killed, another wounded in weekend shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Recent shootings in Jacksonville have left a teenager dead and another wounded in separate weekend shootings, prompting parents and local nonprofits to step up efforts to prevent more violence.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>\u2018Not supposed to be burying my child\u2019: Mother speaks out after 19-year-old son shot, killed<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The mother of 19-year-old Jakari Wyche said her son was shot multiple times Saturday just before 6 p.m. on West 17th Street after the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office responded to a ShotSpotter alert. He was taken to a hospital where he died. His mother, Nigeria Wyche, said this is something no mother should experience<\/p>\n

\u201cNow this where we at \u2014 I have to bury my son and it hurts,\u201d she said. \u201cI got to bury my son, it don\u2019t supposed to be like this. I\u2019m not supposed to be burying my child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyche said her son had been \u201cjust in the neighborhood just walking\u201d when he was shot, and she demanded justice for his death. She urged young people to put down guns and avoid revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids, these young kids, man, put these guns down, man. Ain\u2019t nothing worth revenge,\u201d she said. \u201cKeep going, and JSO, somebody need to hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/b>Teen wounded, 9 rounds detected in West Jacksonville shooting: JSO<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Local organizations are working to reduce crime and violence among younger generations. Sara Alford, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters<\/a> of Northeast Florida, said research shows many teens in Florida lack mentorship and that the group aims to fill that void.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know based on research that one in three young people are growing up today without a positive mentor outside of their home, and so that is a big focus for Big Brothers Big Sisters \u2014 just trying to connect more of our young people with a positive pairing champion,\u201d Alford said.<\/p>\n

JSO said the state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office and the medical examiner\u2019s office are assisting with the investigation.<\/p>\n

September is Big Brothers Big Sisters month, and the century-old nonprofit plans events across the state to help teens find mentors and positive role models.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Recent shootings in Jacksonville have left a teenager dead and another wounded in separate weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1035576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,8423,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1035575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-jso","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117192056339221408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}