'Had just become a grandma': Man on probation identified as 'jealous ex' kills woman and her boyfriend outside Walgreens in hail of gunfire, authorities say

A Florida antheral is down bars and 2 radical are dormant owed to jealous rage, instrumentality enforcement and household successful the Sunshine State say.

Christian Barrios, 32, stands accused of 2 counts of murder successful the archetypal degree, burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting into a conveyance, and expansive theft of a centrifugal vehicle, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

The shooting took the beingness of 46-year-old Melissa Wood and 42-year-old Jason Chatham, who some lived successful Atlantic Beach, a tiny metropolis located a fewer miles owed eastbound of Jacksonville.

The underlying incidental occurred connected the nighttime of March 13 astatine a Walgreens connected the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway successful Ponte Vedra Beach, a ample unincorporated suburb of Jacksonville.

Around 10:30 p.m., deputies responded to aggregate 911 calls astir shots fired astatine the pharmacy connected the country of Palm Valley Road, according to St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick.

Both victims were transported to adjacent hospitals wherever they died, the sheriff said during a property conference, Jacksonville-based independent TV presumption WJXT reported.

The suspect was rapidly identified and tracked by K-9 units onto a play people successful the country which is owned by the PGA Tour.

Barrios was arrested the adjacent time successful Nassau County aft stealing a BMW, crashing the car, and fleeing from a section lawman connected ft into the woods, according to the sheriff's office, WJXT reported.

The sheriff described the suspect arsenic a known criminal.

"He is retired of situation again connected probation, committing different convulsive felony," Hardwick said. "Here we are dumping each these resources and families are gonna mourn 2 radical that were changeable and killed successful a parking batch of Walgreens implicit a home unit situation."

The shooting is believed to beryllium the effect of romanticist envy. Investigators judge Barrios targeted Wood implicit perceived infidelity.

The alleged assailant got a thrust from his mother, asking her to instrumentality him to the determination wherever helium believed his woman would beryllium recovered with different man, according to an apprehension warrant obtained by WJXT.

The defendant's parent told deputies that her lad rode successful the backmost of her car and "frantically jumped out" erstwhile helium saw Wood's car, according to the charging document. Then, the parent recalled proceeding a flurry of gunfire, truthful she called 911.

The victim's household said immoderate narration betwixt the alleged slayer and Wood was implicit and done with by the clip of the shooting.

"[M]y astonishing and 1 and lone sister, Melissa, was gunned down and changeable to decease by an insecure, jealous ex-boyfriend," the victim's brother, Jeremy Hackward, wrote connected a GoFundMe.

The online fundraiser is soliciting donations for ceremonial arrangements, the deceased woman's outstanding bills, and different unexpected "financial obligations" arising from the fatal violence.

Wood was remembered fondly by her brother.

"She near down 2 kids, had conscionable go a grandma hardly a twelvemonth ago, and leaves our parent and maine grieving her loss," the GoFundMe continues. "Melissa was specified an amazing, outgoing, generous, and compassionate person. She ne'er judged anyone and would assistance a alien adjacent if she wasn't successful a spot to bash truthful herself. She'd bash conscionable astir thing to assistance you out—that's the benignant of idiosyncratic she was."

Wood's girl disputed the conception her parent had been unfaithful successful comments to Jacksonville-based radio presumption WOKV.

Rather, she said, she believed her parent was trying to assistance Barrios with something, portion acknowledging she did not cognize the afloat grade of the narration betwixt the two.

"She had a batch of emotion to give," the slain woman's girl said. "And she ever knew what to bash and what to say, adjacent erstwhile she didn't know. And she had 2 beauteous kids, and she did a truly bully occupation raising us. And the 1 happening I privation to transportation retired is, I conscionable had a baby, helium conscionable turned one, and I would emotion to rise him the mode my ma raised me."

Chatham was lovingly remembered by his niece, Aliya Jade, successful a societal media post, WJXT reported.

"I privation we could stock different precocious nighttime escapade walking the streets of Jax Beach with nary hint successful the satellite wherever we are going oregon what we are doing," Jade wrote. "I emotion you forever, and I anticipation you're dancing successful the entity having the champion household reunion determination is. I volition marque definite your airy ne'er goes dull present connected world portion you're giving eden the champion enactment ever. One that I privation I had a summons to."