SARASOTA - A Sarasota man has the sad distinction of being the city's first murder victim of the year. Now the victim's family is remembering their lost relative, and police are saying now is the chance for the Newtown community to take action.
Daryl Hill still can't believe his son, 34-year-old Jeffrey Hill, is dead. "He was a good kid, he didn't bother nobody…he didn't deserve to die like that."
He says his son will be remembered for his love of football. "He coached little league football, he played football for Sarasota High," says Hill.
Jeffrey Hill was gunned down around 1:50am Wednesday morning near the intersection of 24th Street and Dixie Avenue, the victim of an apparent robbery gone bad in Sarasota's Newtown neighborhood.
“He was a good man, we used to look up to him," said Hill's cousin, Arthur Brantley.
Hill coached youth football for the Sarasota Redskins and was a graduate of Virginia Union University.
"He come get me and take me fishing and stuff," said Hill's nephew, Kendarius Anderson. "He was my favorite uncle."
Hill's murder comes as the latest blow in a string of deadly violence in Newtown, a problem the Sarasota Police Department has been trying to control. "For some time we've been reassigning people to specifically target this neighborhood to try and reduce violent crime and up until this morning's incident, we were achieving some success," said Captain Paul Sutton of the Sarasota Police Department.
And police say if you know something, say something. They advise that now is when they need the community's eyes and ears to help catch Hill's killers. "This is the time that the community and the police department have to work together," says Sutton. "If we work together it makes the community safer.
Police did tell ABC 7 they think there are multiple suspects involved. If you have any information, you're urged to call the police detective working the case at (941) 954-7049. They say it’s crimes like these where they need as much help and cooperation from the community as possible, because at the end of the day it makes everyone safer.
