SAINT JOHNS, Fla. — A St. Johns County family is searching for answers after deputies said a man was gunned down by a neighbor in a murder-suicide.
The family identified the victim as 42-year-old Tony Chavez. They said Chavez didn’t know the shooter, who lived down the street.
“One moment at a time, just one step and move forward there,” Chavez’s widow Jessica Chavez said.
It’s been a surreal past 24 hours for Jessica Chavez and her son Gabriel Thoma.
Action News Jax first told you Saturday when St. Johns County deputies responded to a murder-suicide between neighbors in the Palisades neighborhood of Durbin Crossing.
Tony Chavez is remembered as a loving, charismatic, man with the biggest heart, as his widow and stepson describe him.
“Tony was one of those people that you only meet once in your life,” Gabriel said.
Gabriel said he and Tony were working on his car in the cul de sac when they first saw their neighbor, an elderly man, staring them down while walking his dog.
The interaction was brief and Gabriel said he thought nothing of it.
He said it when he and Tony were returning from a search for a missing tool when their second interaction turned deadly.
“He was walking over the curb and he had said something to Tony, and I watched him reach right here and he pulled out his gun,” Gabriel said. “Tony looked at him and said ‘Whoa’ and cocked it and he shot Tony twice.”
Right before Gabriel’s eyes, Tony was down on the ground.
Then, he said he ran for his own life.
“And then he came toward me and he started shooting,” Gabriel said.
He said the neighbor fired three or four rounds at him as he hid behind Tony’s car.
Soon after that, the neighbor went back to his house, and sometime later deputies said he shot and killed himself.
Gabriel said he rushed back over to Tony, called 911, and tried his best to save him.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.
Today, Jessica and Gabriel still don’t know why their neighbor, whom they said Tony has never exchanged words with, would do this.
“Tony has never had an interaction with him,” Jessica said.
As they cope with the loss, they’re also trying to cope with never knowing why.
“Even though he’s gone, I’m waiting for him to walk through the door. He shouldn’t be gone,” Jessica said.
Action News Jax is working on confirming the identity of the accused shooter and getting the incident report from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
The family has started a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs. CLICK HERE to donate.
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