Anolt Joseph AJ Laguerre Jr., 19, was killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville on August 26, 2023. He had recently graduated high school and worked at the store where he died. Family and friends described AJ as bright, kind, intelligent, outgoing, and resilient; he lost his mother at age five and was raised by his grandmother, Cheryl Joachin, alongside his siblings. He loved video games and hoped to become a professional streamer, and reportedly had no criminal record and no school referrals.

The shooter, a 21-year-old white supremacist identified as Ryan Christopher Palmeter, had attempted to attack a nearby historically Black university before moving to the store; he was armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a Glock handgun, one of which was marked with a swastika, wore a tactical vest, killed AJ and two others, and later died by suicide. AJ’s family has launched a GoFundMe for funeral and burial beside his mother in Bradenton and has joined a wrongful death lawsuit against Dollar General and the shooter’s parents alleging inadequate security and foreseeability. If anyone knew AJ or has information about the shooting, please come forward.