Family of West Augustine man murdered 3 years ago still trying to find gunman

WEST AUGUSTINE, Fla. — November 16th never gets any easier for April Sherman. Back in 2018, her son Lavert Durden was killed after a heated argument at the intersection of Herbert and Christopher Street in West Augustine.

“You remember every day; you have waves of emotion every day. I get angry. I get sad,” Lavert’s mother April Sherman said.

Two people were placed in custody in connection to the shooting, but neither was ever charged with Durden’s murder.

Now three years have passed.

“I think the biggest thing is you don’t want people to forget him, like it’s nothing,” Sherman said.

Sherman showed us the plaque put up in her son’s memory last year. On it are all the people Lavert left behind after he was killed. Including his 2-year-old daughter Alayshia.

She’ll be turning three in February but never had the chance to meet her father.

“She’ll look at his picture and daddy, my daddy and I’ll say yes that’s your daddy,” Sherman said.

The shooting happened near the same area where Lavert’s cousin Charles Durden and his friend Staffon Larry were found shot in an SUV that was set on fire in 2016.

Sherman says the violence in her neighborhood needs to end.

“Black on black crime never gets the attention that it should. It has to stop because we love our kids too just like any other race we love our kids too,” Sherman said.

And she’s just pleading for anyone to step forward if they know anything about who took her son away.

“If it was your family, you would want some type of closure. Justice whatever you want to call it. It’s all fun and games until it’s your family,” Sherman said.

The St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax this case is still an active investigation.

The sheriff’s office says detectives are in constant contact with the family and are actively pursuing leads and witnesses in this case.

Anyone with information is still asked to contact the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office.

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