A 21st birthday celebration turned fatal. A 15 year old girl was shot and killed in a parking lot in Northwest Gainesville early this morning. Friends of Jearicka Mack say she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Around 12:30 this morning, officers at a nearby traffic stop heard a gunshot. When they arrived to the Lions Club, officers say people were leaving the party, and others, gathered around Jearicka Mack in the parking lot. Officers tried to perform CPR, but Mack was pronounced dead on the scene. Police will not confirm where Mack was shot, but witnesses say it was in her head.
It was Jamal Holmes' 21st birthday party at the Lions Club on North Main Terrace last night. Mack was invited, but Holmes says a group of guys showed up that weren't. Holmes said he had asked the group to leave, but they came back and things turned ugly. Holmes says he doesn't know how Mack got caught up in the fight.
Gainesville Police Detectives arrested 17 year old Dontavious Copeland around 2pm today. He is being held at the Juvenile Assessment Center in Gainesville. Even though an arrest has been made, the investigation is not over. Detectives are still interviewing witnesses, looking for answers as to the relationship between Copeland and Mack and the motive behind her murder.