An Ocala family who has been mourning the loss of one of their own from a fatal shooting at the Paddock Mall almost exactly two years ago has now lost another father to gun violence at Christmas time.
Ja’Narre Suggs, 21, has been identified as the victim of a Christmas morning shooting that occurred near the 800 block of W Silver Springs Place in Ocala.
Ocala Police Department officers responded to that area at around 4:11 a.m. on Thursday after receiving reports of a gunshots.
Upon arrival, officers found the body of Suggs. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Suggs had recently become a first time father. In a statement posted to social media, Suggs’ father expressed pride for his son’s embrace of fatherhood and dismay at his untimely death.
“You didn’t deserve this son,” the father wrote. “You were doing so good in the right lane with your life, working, being a full time father.” Referring to him as his “first born prince,” Suggs’ father says he will never get to see his son “grow into his full potential” as a result of the shooting.
The fatal shooting comes almost exactly two years after Suggs’ cousin, David Barron, was fatally shot at the Paddock Mall. The alleged shooter in that incident, Albert James Shell, was arrested over two weeks after the shooting. Since that shooting took place, it has been announced that state prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty for Snell. Additionally, Barron’s surviving significant other has filed a lawsuit against the mall.
OPD states that detectives are actively investigating the fatal Christmas Day shooting and are working closely with Suggs’ family. Anyone with information on the shooting death of Ja’Narre Suggs is asked to call Detective Quintero at 352-369-7000.