Telly Simmons

Telly Jamell Simmons, a 42-year-old African-American father of six, is remembered by his loved ones as "the realest brother in the world." His family’s life would never be the same after his death, with one relative writing, "Holidays are hard.. but life without you here has been the hardest." Known to some by the nickname "Woe," his absence left a void filled with messages of love and sorrow: "I really miss my uncle so much," and "i miss my daddy." The raw grief of his family is a testament to the man they lost, a man whose life was violently cut short in the fall of 2017.

On the night of Monday, October 30, 2017, a call reporting a person shot came in to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 9:20 p.m. The scene was an apartment complex on Bert Road in Jacksonville's Arlington area. Investigators would later find shell casings and a gun at this location. Over an hour later, at 10:45 p.m., another call came in—this time from a citizen on the Mathews Bridge. A car was stopped at the top of the bridge, and inside was a man who had been shot. The man was Telly Simmons.

Police believe that after being shot on Bert Road, Telly attempted to drive away from the scene but succumbed to his injuries while on the bridge. His car was riddled with bullet holes. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office secured both the apartment complex and the westbound lanes of the Mathews Bridge to conduct their investigation. A JSO sergeant at the scene noted the difficulty of the initial investigation, stating, "We do not have very cooperative people at the scene."

The investigation into Telly Simmons's murder was met with few public leads. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not release a description of any possible shooter, and no suspects were publicly identified. For years, the case remained cold, one of many unsolved homicides in a city grappling with gun violence. His family was left with unanswered questions and the pain of their loss, posting messages like "what could I had done to save him???" on a memorial page.

Years after the murder, in August 2026, a stunning development in a separate federal case brought Telly Simmons's name back into the headlines. Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping indictment against 13 members of a violent drug trafficking gang known as the "Slime Enterprise." The gang’s leader was identified as Brian Gregory Brightman, Telly Simmons's brother. Prosecutors revealed that in the wake of Telly's unsolved murder, Brightman had formed a splinter group called "K4T," which stood for "Killers for Telly." According to the U.S. Attorney, Brightman "had set up K4T as an organization to retaliate against the killers."

While the federal indictment detailed a timeline of violent crimes, including murder-for-hire, committed by the gang in its quest for territory and revenge, it did not bring resolution to Telly's original homicide. The charges against his brother and the K4T group were for their own criminal enterprise, not for solving the murder that inspired their name.

As of late 2026, the murder of Telly Simmons remains unsolved. No one has been charged with his death, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office investigation is ongoing. The case stands as a painful reminder of a life taken and the violent cycle that can follow in the wake of unresolved grief. Authorities continue to ask for the public's help. Anyone with information about the shooting of Telly Jamell Simmons is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.