Accused killer faces judge as Fort Myers family grieves loss

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FORT MYERS, Fla. – A man accused of shooting 63-year-old Gloria Sparrow went before a judge in his first court appearance Sunday morning.

Sheddrick Jubree Brown Jr., is facing second-degree murder charges and is being held without bond after Fort Myers police called him a danger to the community.

Brown will have his second court appearance Monday.

He is accused of killing Sparrow, a mother of seven and a grandmother of 19, in a drive-by early Saturday morning. Sparrow was playing a board game at her home on Dora Street when she was shot in the head, family members said.

Saturday’s arrest is only Brown’s most recent run-in with law enforcement. His past is storied with multiple arrests, criminal charges and jail time from as early as 2010 when he was 16 years old.

Brown has been arrested six times and has spent a total of eight months in jail, according to jail records. He has faced prior criminal charges and was most recently serving a two-year probation from 2015, records show.

Sheddrick Jubree Brown Jr. ‘s prior criminal charges include:

  • Oct. 15, 2010: felony battery
  • June 20, 2013: grand theft
  • Jan. 1, 2015: battery on officer, resisting arrest with violence, carrying concealed firearm, using firearm during commission of a felony
  • March 7, 2015: aggravated assault, battery on another, resisting officers, carrying a concealed weapon
  • April 16, 2016: homicide, possession of a weapon
Gloria Sparrow, 63, was found dead inside a home on Dora Street after a drive-by shooting early Saturday morning.
Gloria Sparrow, 63, was found dead inside a home on Dora Street after a drive-by shooting early Saturday morning.

The violent episode that claimed Sparrow’s life is indicative of larger problems, neighbors said. Sparrow’s family believes people are getting caught in the crossfires of neighborhood violence.

“They shooting innocent people in the process of trying to shoot each other,” one family member said.

Some people from the area said that gun violence has become so prevalent that children have been regularly forced to consider their safety.

“When you have kids, like small kids, that are like oh we’re gonna go hang out at the park for Easter and they say ‘You gonna go hang out there and they be shooting?’ Just like four- or five-year-old kids that say things like that, you know it’s terrible,” one person said.

With the family matriarch gone, Sparrow’s loved ones are looking to mend the void left by her accused killer.

“I just hope we can all stick together and love one another,” a family member said. “Your mom is basically all you have and when Moms gone, ain’t nobody gonna take care of you like your mom. Nobody.”

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