Jacksonville home invasion victim speaks up about crime in her community

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville woman is speaking up about crime in her community. After she was held hostage in her home by two murder suspects, she is hoping her voice will motivate others to stand up against criminals in Jacksonville.

“It’s time for people to take their head out of the sand and start turning these people in,” Barbara said. “It’s the only way to stop it.”

On Jan. 15 the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a 23-year-old man was shot and killed in Arlington.

Police said two suspects drove off in a stolen gray car, but crashed it a few miles away on Townsend Boulevard. Neighbors shared home surveillance video with Action News Jax reporter Elizabeth Pace which shows the two suspects running through yards and hopping a fence to get away from police during a chase.

It was later discovered that the suspects broke into a family’s home on this street. Barbara was held hostage by these murder suspects for more than an hour while police searched the next street over.

“It didn’t matter if I was sleeping or wide awake, I still pictured myself opening that door and them standing there,” Barbara said. “There’s not anything anybody can do or say to make that go away.”

She said she let her cats outside in her yard around 10:30 a.m. The door was only cracked open for a few minutes when the suspects broke into her home. She came out of her bathroom and found them hiding in one of her bedrooms.

“When they pulled me back into the house, I landed on the hardwood floor,” Barbara said.

She told Pace she couldn’t go into much detail about what the suspects said to keep the integrity of the active investigation. However, she told Pace that the suspects wrestled her to the ground, used her bathroom, and changed into her and her husband’s clothes before a driver picked them up. She said they were there for more than an hour.

When she ran out of her home screaming for help, Barbara found Pace, who was reporting on the suspects at the time. She explained what happened inside her home and Pace led her to police.

Since then, Barbara has helped police identify possible suspects. She is also recovering from multiple injuries. Most of all, she said she is trying to restore her personal safety.

“It’s not going to stop until we tell the guys, the criminals doing it, ‘Enough. We’ve had enough.’”

JSO will not confirm whether it has made any arrests in this investigation. However, Action News Jax found records that show a man by the name of Dominque Barner was arrested on burglary with assault and home invasion robbery charges the day after Barbara’s attack.

Action News Jax had the only camera inside the Duval County courtroom for Barner’s arraignment. He pleaded not guilty to both felony charges. The prosecutor also filed a motion for police to get a sample of his DNA, which was approved by the judge.

Anyone with information about this murder or home invasion investigation is asked to call JSO or Crime Stoppers.

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