JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says a popular money transfer app helped them arrest a man they believe is connected to murder following a 4th of July celebration.
“I was shocked!” said Kathy Gelinas who lives across the street from where the shooting happened. “When it first happened, I heard gunshots there was like four, maybe five,” said Gelinas. “And I opened the door and looked then I saw the cop cars and the tape and everything.”
Action News Jax obtained Smith’s arrest report which broke down the sequence of events.
On July 5, just before 1 am, JSO responded to a call about a person being shot on Rover Drive. When they arrived on scene, investigators say they found 18-year-old Xzaria Randall with multiple gunshots to her stomach. She died at the scene.
Witnesses told investigators that Stephan Smith arrived at the house for a 4th of July party. A fight involving Smith broke out, and quickly turned physical. At some point, gunshots rang out, and Smith and someone else ran from the scene.
Police were able to arrest one of those people, and when they did, they noticed that the suspect had called someone else. Investigators were able to link that phone number to a Cash App account for 23-year-old Stephan Smith.
Kathy Gelinas never thought something like this would happen on their quiet street.
“I don’t feel safe now because of this incident,” said Gelinas.
Action News Jax’s Madison Foglio reached out to Randall’s family for comment, but has not heard back at the time of this reporting. Smith is set to be arraigned on July 29th.
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