An 18-year-old man was shot and killed during a home invasion at Jernigan Gardens Apartment complex located on Mercy Drive on Tuesday. The shooting also left another person injured.
Although the apartments and the neighborhood have a reputation of repeated violence, Asia Dawkins who lives at the complex thinks otherwise. Dawkins told The Florida Sun, “It’s not really bad over here. It’s quiet. Sometimes we have conflicts over here but it’s not that often.”
However, last September Orlando Police responded to a call regarding a shooting at Jernigan Gardens that left one woman dead and three other people injured. The shooting was streamed live on social media. Two suspects were arrested two weeks later in that shooting. Both are being charged with first-degree murder.
Just three days following the late September shooting, a man was shot at Jernigan Gardens but fortunately survived his injuries. Over the past few years, there have been a significant number of reported gang-related shootings at the complex.
Nonetheless, Dawkins insists the neighborhood is not as bad as it is depicted to be in the media. Dawkins added, “We really all family over here. If you really live over here everyday and be over here constantly, you’ll be family, too.”
