JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The mother of a 22-year-old man stabbed to death at the Anheuser Busch Brewery last month is speaking out after Action News Jax exposed how her son’s alleged killer was the only suspect identified in a 2017 murder, but was never charged in that case.
“I’m moving away from this house. I don’t want to be here no more. Too many memories,” said April Flood.
Memories are all Flood has left of her son, Antoine Autry.
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“He liked to dance and rap and be on his live and stuff, you know, stuff like that,” said Flood. “That was my big baby.”
When Flood dropped her son off at work for his first day working a temp job at the Anheuser Busch Brewery on October 30th, she had no idea it would be the last time she saw him alive.
According to the JSO arrest report, Jason Guthrie, who was working for the same staffing agency, allegedly stabbed Antoine multiple times while at work that day.
Witnesses told police the two men had no argument or confrontation prior to the attack.
“He don’t carry a gun. He’s not a criminal. Never been in a gang. And he stabbed him twice,” said Flood.
The loss of her son is compounded by the discovery of Guthrie’s past criminal history.
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Action News Jax told you last week that Guthrie was convicted of attacking his father in 2017 at their Jacksonville home and stabbing a man outside a liquor store in 2020.
We also discovered he was the only suspect JSO identified in the killing of Autumn Van Camp, who was found strangled to death underneath Guthrie’s bed one day after he was arrested and Baker Acted for the assault on his father.
JSO listed the case as exceptionally cleared after the State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Guthrie for Van Camp’s murder.
According to the FBI, that designation means law enforcement had identified the offender, but encountered a circumstance outside the control of law enforcement that prohibited the agency from arresting, charging, and prosecuting the offender.
JSO indicated the State Attorney’s Office declined to move forward with homicide charges due to Guthrie’s mental health issues, but the State Attorney’s Office told Action News Jax it was due to a lack of evidence.
Van Camp’s homicide report revealed Guthrie had well-documented mental health issues that worsened after he was shot in the head after being honorably discharged from the US Navy.
After Guthrie was convicted of the 2017 assault and the 2020 battery, a judge released him on time served in 2024, despite the State Attorney’s Office seeking a longer sentence.
Guthrie had been in and out of state mental hospitals for the past seven years.
We told Flood when we learned about Guthrie’s history, leading her to question how he was ever allowed to walk free.
“Why is he out of jail? The system failed so many people from 2017. I remember what you told me and then what I was reading everything. It’s awful. He has an awful history,” said Flood. “He’s a monster.”
Flood is now faced with the tragic burden of burying a son she believes would still be alive today if only Guthrie had prosecuted to the fullest extent in the past.
Guthrie is now charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but Flood told Action News Jax she wants to see those charges upgraded.
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“And if anybody has a heart and think about this thing from beginning to end, they’ll understand me 100 percent that my son deserves justice and he deserves life, no, the death penalty with no chance of parole,” said Flood.
Guthrie has still not been charged in relation to the 2017 killing of Van Camp, but the State Attorney’s Office has told Action News Jax that the case is still officially open.
Flood is currently asking for help raising funds for funeral expenses for her son, Antoine.
If you’d like to help out, you can make a donation to the GoFundMe she’s set up here.
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