LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A mother said the death of her children’s father has left a major hole in their hearts.
Nathaniel Jones was one of two individuals tragically killed in an unusual double homicide in Lakeland on Monday. He is survived by his three children, aged 8, 5, and 2.
“To me and my kids, he was an irreplaceable figure, like a superstar. He was everything to them, almost a legendary presence in their lives,” expressed Kameshia Barr, the mother of Jones’s children.
Barr shared that Jones was not fated to pass away on Monday. The Polk County Sheriff’s office released footage capturing Jones’ final moments as he rode a bicycle to visit his brother on Pirate Way.
“When he left there, we knew he was going to come back because I just talked to him two hours prior to that,” Barr said.
Seconds later, a gunshot is heard in the video, then a white Mercedes speeds down the road. The car hits Jones and pushes him into a house. The car bulldozed through the wall.
Jones died at the scene.
Sheriff Grady Judd said six people were a part of a drug deal. He said the 17-year-old in the group is accused of shooting the driver of the white Mercedes, allegedly causing the death of two people.
“How much money and drugs did the bad guys get? Zero. Nothing. They killed two people. They’ve got a lifetime they’re facing in prison over a failed robbery,” Judd said.
Now three children are forced to grow up without their father.
“My son, he just broke down, he broke down. He (is) so devastated and he don’t want to talk, he really want to come out,” Barr said. “My daughter, she really still don’t know that he is actually gone… I was trying to post a picture of him last night, she looked at my phone and I couldn’t even post it because I knew if I post it, she would look at the picture and say, ‘Where’s daddy at?'”
The family is asking for prayers from the community.
