Father of son fatally shot in Sandalwood wishes his last words were ‘I love you’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The father of a teen who was fatally shot in the street on Saturday says he is hurt by his son’s death.

15-year-old Me’kel Queen was found dead in the middle of Java Drive after multiple witnesses reported hearing some type of argument before the shooting.

“It hurts me deeply that my last words weren’t I love you but deep down inside I know he knows I love him,” Donnell Queen said.

Investigators said it’s unclear what led to the shooting.

Queen said he found out about his son’s death from a phone call.

“I’m just devastated. I haven’t been eating. It’s hard to do anything knowing my son is gone,” Queen said.

Queen said after the call, he immediately went to see about his son.

“They wouldn’t let me pass. They wouldn’t give me any information,” he said.

Queen is still scrambling for answers as investigators provided little information.

“I’m hoping the investigator comes to me and gives me some details about what’s going on,” Queen said.

“The most I will miss about him is just him being around, calling my name, asking to just spend time with his dad,” he said.

So far this year, 19 children under the age of 18 have been shot and five of those have resulted in deaths.

The family started a GoFundMe to raise money for his funeral expenses.