Zi’Juan Alexander loved spending time with his family, relatives say, and was set to start work at a nearby grocery store over the next few weeks.
But on Saturday, Nov. 8, his parents learned that the 16-year-old had been fatally shot before dawn in Rockledge.
Rockledge police were dispatched about 5:30 a.m. to a home in the 800 block of Ferndale Avenue, where Zi’Juan, hit by at least one round in the upper body, was located. Police would not say how many others were in the home at the time of the shooting but called the shooting incident “isolated.” It was not immediately known if the firearm was recovered.
“It was a suspicious death that is currently under investigation,” Rockledge Police Cmdr. Richard Harris said in a message to FLORIDA TODAY.
Zi’Juan, known by his nickname Z and described by family as “charming,” was transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, where he was pronounced dead. Officers later issued an alert for a possible person of interest, but no arrests were made, records show.
“He was just a big kid,” said Shontrell Williams, Zi’juan’s first cousin, who helped co-organize a GoFundMe page to help offset funeral expenses.
Family members described the teen as reserved, but someone who spent a lot of time with his siblings. He had just celebrated his 16th birthday in June, with family members posting a video of him dancing and posing next to a car.
Williams called her cousin’s death a “tragic loss” for the family.
“(The parents) are a hard-working family, working days and nights with little break in order to support their family and give their children the best they can give,” Williams wrote on GoFundMe. “The abrupt passing of their son has rocked their lives.”
If confirmed as a homicide, the case will be the 19th to take place in Brevard County this year.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ‘Suspicious’ shooting death of 16-year-old under investigation by Rockledge police
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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