'I want these shut down' Man dies after fight in northwest Jacksonville 'rooming house'

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man was beaten to death inside a Northwest Jacksonville home prompting heavy police presence at a home neighbors said is familiar with crime.

“There were cops lined around the street and around the building here,” a neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous for his safety, said referring to the home involved in the incident on Palmdale Street.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a fight inside the home early Monday morning turned deadly. The victim, a man in his 40s, was originally taken to the hospital in critical condition after roommates called 911.

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Officers said he died a few hours later prompting a homicide investigation. It’s not the first time police have shown up at the house, which is a “rooming house,” similar to a boarding house.

“Crime, break-ins, you name it,” a neighbor said. “These people that come here, they come from different parts of town. They stay for a week or so. You don’t know anything about them, the background. They could be wanted, they could be molesters, they could be anything.”

Action News Jax requested the calls for service to the address from JSO and found there have been 58 calls since 2020 with everything from disputes to drug investigations and burglaries.

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“No one wants to come here unless you’re coming for certain things now because it used to be a pretty nice area.”

Rooming houses are allowed in most neighborhoods across Jacksonville with certain restrictions and limitations, except in Springfield which banned them. It’s something some neighbors on Palmdale argue should happen there as well.

“I want these shut down. Every one of them. Because there are children here,” a neighbor said.

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Action News Jax reached out to the property owner, who said the victim was not a resident at the home and only three people are currently living there.

JSO said it interviewed three people but is still working to determine their relationship with the victim.

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