(NewsNation) — Four men were arrested this week in connection to a January shooting that took the life of 7-year-old Breon Allen Jr. of Florida.
Keith Fields, 18; Dannel Larkins, 20; Keith Johnson, 21; and Zharod Sykes, 24, are charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted first-degree murder, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
“This is just the first round of arrests we will make in bringing Breon’s family the justice they deserve,” the sheriff’s office said. “There are other individuals who planned and participated in this heinous act.”
The sheriff’s office said Fields, Larkins and Sykes are members of a gang, while Johnson is a “documented gang associate.”
According to arrest warrants obtained by WJXT, the shooting that killed Allen Jr. has direct ties to an ongoing feud between rival Jacksonville gangs ATK and 6 block.
Investigators, WJXT wrote, said the shooting was “motivated with the purpose to benefit, promote, and/or further the interest of the criminal gang.”
Lafayette Mango, Allen Jr.’s cousin who was injured in the shooting, had been the suspects’ intended target, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said Wednesday, according to First Coast News. He was walking with Allen Jr. at the time.
Investigators said in arrest warrants that Mango released a song called “6 Ways to Die” that “dissed” members of 6 block who have died, including Lawrence Davis, 21; Adrian McKinzie, 16; and Charles Jones, a rapper known as “Julio Foolio.”
In January, First Coast News spoke to Allen’s mom, Casheena Love, who said her son was a football star who was loved by everyone. Allen just started basketball practice the Thursday before he died, Love told First Coast News.