15-year-old Trenton student shot and killed

By Carrie A. Mizell

Students at Trenton Middle-High School gathered into the school auditorium on Monday morning to remember a 15-year-old classmate who was shot and killed in a Gainesville parking lot over the weekend.
Jearicka Mack was a ninth grade student at Trenton.
Formerly a resident of Gainesville, Jearicka and her younger sister, who is a seventh grade student at Trenton, moved to Gilchrist County in April 2010 to live with their older sister.

Her classmates, many of whom sought comfort from grief counselors at the school on Monday morning, say they will miss Jearicka’s friendly personality.
A funeral service will be held for Jearicka on May 28th at the Female Protection Center in Gainesville. A time for the service had not been set at press time.
According to Gainesville Police Department reports, Jearicka was pronounced dead around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. The teenager had reportedly attended a birthday party for Gainesville resident Jamaal Holmes at the Lions Club, which is located at 3315 North Main Terrace in Gainesville. As the party was breaking up, there was reportedly an argument in the parking lot that led to a teenager pulling out a gun and firing a shot into a crowd of people.
Despite rescue workers’ efforts to save her life, the gunshot wound killed Jearicka.
After interviewing witnesses, police officers arrested Dontavious Copeland, 17, of Gainesville and charged him in the shooting death of Jearicka. As of Monday, Copeland was being held in the Alachua County Juvenile Detention facility.
The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered and officials at the Gainesville Police Department are offering a $1,000 bounty for information about the gun used in the crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call (352) 393-7661.