Jeffery Kennell Jr, a 16-year-old from Pensacola, Florida, was fatally shot multiple times on December 29, 2020, while standing outside his apartment at the Forest Creek Apartments on Patton Drive. Deputies arrived about 11 p.m. and found Kennell with multiple gunshot wounds; he died at the scene despite efforts to save him.

The investigation led to the arrest of 22-year-old Trenton Newkirk in June 2021. He was indicted on first-degree premeditated murder but a jury convicted him of second-degree murder instead; his mandatory minimum sentence was reduced from life to 25 years under that conviction. GPS data from Newkirk’s phone placed him at the scene at the time of the shooting. Charges against a second suspect, Isaiah Sims, were dropped for lack of evidence. Newkirk was sentenced in June 2023.

Kennell’s family described profound and lasting grief at sentencing, and his mother joined a law firm demanding safety and security changes at Forest Creek Apartments. Does anyone have information about security conditions at Forest Creek Apartments around late 2020 or about what neighbors may have seen that night?