JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman was found dead late Thursday on the sidewalk off College Circle South in College Gardens.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and family confirm it was 33-year-old Sierra McKenzie.
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Officers have not disclosed her cause of death, but they say McKenzie was found in a pool of blood.
Several of McKenzie’s family members gathered at the scene early Friday morning to try to piece together what may have happened to her.
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“She’s already so missed. She didn’t deserve to die like this,” McKenzie’s mother Wanda Cockfield said.
They told Action News Jax’s Shanila Kabir that McKenzie was a mother and a new grandmother.
Cockfield said her daughter was kind and friends with everyone.
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“Sierra was smiley and always joking. She was a friendly person and sometimes too friendly. I always told her not everyone is your friend,” Cockfield said.
McKenzie’s brother, Derrick Taylor said they are determined to find the person or people responsible for Sierra’s death. He said, “She will not be another black woman who was killed and forgotten.”
“The only thing they can tell us is that my sister had blunt force trauma to her face. That’s all we know. But we found bullet shells in here,” Taylor said.
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Originally, officers responded to a call a little after 11 p.m. Thursday night about a woman lying on the sidewalk unresponsive. Upon arrival, they found McKenzie dead at the scene. They said she was found bleeding from the back of her head due to some sort of trauma, but the cause of her death is still under investigation.
According to JSO Crime Maps, officers responded to calls of aggravated assault, burglary, drug-related crimes, and more all within a one-mile radius of the crime scene in the past month.
McKenzie’s family said they hate to say that she was killed in the same neighborhood where she grew up.
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“She’s vibrant. She had a heart of gold, and she went through different trials and tribulations in life, but she was a fighter,” Roshelle Taylor, McKenzie’s sister-in-law, said.
Investigators said they found no other visible injuries when they examined McKenzie’s body.
Investigators said they found no other visible injuries and they ask that anyone with information to contact JSO at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
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