Hannah Critchfield

Area leaders have worked to change, you know, reducing the murder rate is an important priority.

Once something is deemed a justifiable homicide, it's considered a case that can clear and no homicide charges are filed because justifiable homicides aren't crimes.

They aren't included in murder rate statistics.

They move into a separate category.

Because they're not a crime, they're not factored in into a city's overall murder rate.

You know, one said Stand Your Ground became sort of a garbage dump for difficult-to-handle homicide cases.

And it has emerged as this open question for some researchers who study Stand Your Ground and sort of the ricocheting impacts on justifiable homicides in general on communities.

It was October.

And so she finished her shift.

It was a really busy season.

And so we drove to a nearby Popeyes to grab dinner.

Of course, when this conversation began, Williams wasn't able to eat.

I mean, it was, yeah, she was devastated.

she was confused.

She was shocked.

I mean, she hadn't heard any of this.

And, you know, the idea that your son's death is not considered a criminal act, I think that's shocking for anyone.

And she had a lot of questions, a lot of questions that, um,

I, as a reporter, couldn't answer.

The clearing of her son's case is documented publicly on the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office website, but you'd have to know where to look to find that, and she had no idea.