Inside the Florida city where more killings are ruled self-defence than anywhere else in America

(Representative Image)

LaToya Williams ran toward the sound of gunfire on a narrow dirt road in Jacksonville, Florida, only to find her 16-year-old son collapsing from a bullet wound that had torn through his ribs. When paramedics arrived and rushed him to the hospital, she asked to ride along but was refused, then walked the 13 minutes to the emergency room where she had given birth to him. She arrived in time for a doctor to tell her that her son, Khalian Fedrick, had died on the operating table. What followed was a two-year period of silence, uncertainty and confusion, as the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office declared the shooting a lawful self-defence homicide—without any individual claiming they acted in self-defence, the Wall Street Journal reported.

How the investigation reached a self-defence conclusion

The investigative file shows that the case was closed in just 36 hours at a cost of roughly $1,700. Detectives concluded that Fedrick had been the aggressor, and that he was shot by 32-year-old Anthony Jean Pierre in an act of presumed self-defence. Pierre, who has a felony record, consistently denied firing a weapon and insisted he had been a bystander caught between a masked gunman and chaos. He said he had been struck in the hand and ran for his life. Yet a year later, detectives and a local prosecutor agreed to classify the teenager’s killing as justified, even though they had no formal statement from Pierre admitting that he fired the fatal shot. Fedrick’s mother learned of the classification only when The Wall Street Journal told her, more than 13 months after the detective’s internal memo. She had received no official update, no explanation and no opportunity to understand how the decision had been reached.

Why Jacksonville labels more killings as justified than any major U.S. city

Jacksonville stands apart nationally. Between 2021 and 2024, it recorded the highest rate of homicides labelled “justifiable” by civilians among all U.S. jurisdictions with populations over 500,000. The Journal’s analysis, based on FBI reporting, shows Jacksonville clearing more than fifty killings as lawful self-defence over four years, with the city’s own records indicating even more. These cases cluster heavily in neighbourhoods marked by poverty, gun violence, distrust of law enforcement and limited cooperation with police. Former homicide detectives and defence lawyers say investigators often operate in communities where witnesses fear retaliation and residents feel threatened by the very presence of police. The result is a system in which determining who acted in fear and who acted unlawfully becomes murky, and where the legal definition of self-defence becomes easier to invoke and harder to disprove.

How stand-your-ground laws reshape police and prosecutorial decisions

Florida’s stand-your-ground statute grants broad protections to anyone who uses lethal force when faced with a perceived threat. A 2017 amendment shifted the burden onto prosecutors, who must disprove a defendant’s self-defence claim before the case reaches a jury. Several prosecutors say the law has made them more cautious about filing charges, knowing an early procedural hearing could derail a case without the defendant ever taking the stand. Researchers argue this legal environment creates an incentive for police and prosecutors to clear ambiguous homicides as justified, avoiding trials where the standard is difficult to meet. In

Jacksonville, where violent crime has long shaped political debate, the classification of a killing as justifiable also keeps it out of official violent-crime statistics, a fact that has drawn scrutiny from critics who believe the system encourages strategic categorisation.

The unresolved gaps in a case deemed ‘justifiable’

The evidence in Fedrick’s case was fragmentary. Police recovered a .38-caliber revolver unrelated to the 9mm rounds found near the body. The passenger Pierre claimed was with him disappeared without a trace. DNA linked Pierre to a 9mm ammunition magazine in his car, but no ballistic match existed for the bullet that killed Fedrick. A tip from a jailed acquaintance suggested Fedrick may have planned to rob someone during a drug transaction, but no witness confirmed the account. Despite these gaps, investigators concluded that Fedrick had initiated the confrontation. Pierre, meanwhile, was arrested months later on unrelated charges and eventually faced prosecution only for illegal firearm possession connected to the day of the shooting, not for the killing itself. Even then, the classification of the death as justified remained publicly listed on the sheriff’s website.

A grieving mother still seeking closure

Williams eventually fled Jacksonville for Daytona Beach, too fearful and uncertain to stay in the neighbourhood where her son was shot. She insists that the classification of the case as self-defence is incomprehensible without anyone claiming self-defence, without a recovered weapon, and without a clear account from the only surviving adult connected to the scene. The state attorney’s office later told reporters the case was still open, contradicting earlier statements, deepening Williams’s frustration. Her son, who had been accepted into Job Corps just two days before he was killed, is buried in Daytona Beach. She still does not understand how the system concluded he was the aggressor. She still has not received a full explanation. And she still wants to know how a life can be taken, classified and closed without anyone ever taking responsibility or even speaking to her.