FORT MYERS, Fla. — Police identify the deceased as 16-year-old De’mari Jackson.
Fort Myers Police say a 16-year-old Fort Myers High School student was shot and killed near the 3000 block of Franklin Street on Sunday night.
Investigators say a fight broke out in the neighborhood between a group of people and a shot spotter alert happened at 8:15 p.m. Sunday.
According to police, the victim was an innocent bystander in the incident.
FMPD's spokeswoman, Officer Kristin Capuzzi confirmed the teen died while being transported to Gulf Coast Medical Center.
This is the first homicide of the year in the city of Fort Myers.
“I just believe that we are going to catch whoever did this,” said Fort Myers Police Sergeant Domonic Zammit. “This was the first and hopefully it’s the last. The Chief is very dedicated to keeping the violent crime down in our city and he has done a very good job so far.”
A mother of 4 who lives in the area did not want her face or name on camera but says she feels uneasy and didn't sleep all night because her kids including her daughter and son were in the area where the shooting happened, "It sounded like a big gun. One of them could have got hit because bullets have no name. Taking somebody's life that's on your conscious how can you live knowing you took someone's life."
She explains what her daughter told her when she ran home, "She says Mommy I heard a whole bunch of pow pow pow pow. For my daughter to witness something like that she's terrified she said mommy I don't want to come out the door no more."
Fort Myers Police Officer Yvette Dominique with Crime Prevention says she does not want to see happening, "It is tragic that we lose young people it's heartbreaking and I work with youth all the time to know that we have to deal with that we feel bad we feel sad no children or parent no community member should have to go through it's a sad event and I'm hoping that people speak up and speak out about it let's get these people behind bars."
The last homicide in Fort Myers was over 9 months ago and with this homicide comes questions, who did it and why? Police are asking for you to speak up... "We can't be afraid to call because unfortunately we are not there all the time we rely on the community we rely on people to tell us what's going on and if we want things to happen we have to speak up and speak out if you see something say something." Officer Dominique.
Police stress that this is believed to be an isolated incident,
After a tip allegedly came in yesterday, police are at the scene of a home that was near the shooting looking at a broken window
FMPD has confirmed the arrest of Syncere Trice for second-degree murder following the death of 16-year-old De’mari Jackson who was killed in the Franklin Street shooting.
Trice was arrested after an interview with detectives according to the report.
He is expected in court at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Officers and community members worked together to bring about this quick arrest. Our unified front shows we will not accept the senseless murder of a teenager in our city. I am very proud of these officers and our relationship with our community. By working together, we can continue to make Fort Myers a better place to live, work and raise a family."
WATCH: FMPD Homicide Update
