A 22-year-old woman is dead after Jacksonville police opened fire on her during a domestic disturbance call on Westdale Drive Tuesday night, and now her mother is publicly disputing the official account of what happened. Sheriff T.K. Waters and Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey briefed reporters on the shooting, while the victim's mother says her daughter was a domestic violence victim who needed help, not bullets.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, District 2 patrol officers were dispatched around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday to a battery with injuries at a home in the 1100 block of Westdale Drive, near Pine Bluff Drive. Officers say a man at the scene told them he had argued with his girlfriend and that she was armed with a knife. The woman then walked outside carrying multiple items, including a large kitchen knife, according to JSO, and an officer ordered her to drop it and to drop everything in her hands.
Police say the woman advanced toward the officer, who fired a shot that struck her. She fell to the ground but continued holding the knife and attempted to advance again before a backup officer arrived and also ordered her to drop it, according to the sheriff's office account. The officer fired a second shot before the woman eventually put the knife down. She was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.
Mother Says Her Daughter Was the Victim, Not the Threat
The woman killed was identified by her mother, Crissy Duncan, as 22-year-old Asia Bennett. As reported by News4JAX, Duncan pushed back hard against the police narrative, describing her daughter as a roughly 110-pound domestic violence victim who was not dangerous and who she believes was killed in vain. Duncan's account directly conflicts with JSO's telling of a suspect who repeatedly advanced on officers with a weapon, and the dossier does not resolve which account will prevail once the independent investigation concludes.
Duncan told the outlet she learned of her daughter's death through a phone call from a State Attorney's Office representative around 4 a.m. Wednesday, notifying her that Bennett had died following a domestic dispute — meaning prosecutors had already reached out to the family hours before JSO's public briefing. JSO has withheld the involved officer's name, citing changes to Marsy's Law. The station's report and case updates are expected to continue as the investigation unfolds.
New Marsy's Law Rules Shield Officer's Identity
The officer who fired the shots has not been publicly named, and JSO says that decision stems from a Florida statutory revision passed in March 2026. According to Florida Politics, the legislation creates a public record exemption that keeps an officer's name confidential for 72 hours, and exempt from disclosure for up to 60 days, if the officer is an alleged victim of assault or threat during their employment. That change followed a 2023 Florida Supreme Court ruling that had struck down automatic lifetime anonymity for on-duty officers.
The Westdale Drive shooting marked JSO's 13th officer-involved shooting of 2026, per the sheriff's office's account relayed by News4JAX. The case now heads into Jacksonville's standard multi-tiered review process, which Hoodline previously detailed involves an independent criminal evaluation by the State Attorney's Office to determine legal justification, followed by JSO's own internal administrative review and a Response to Resistance Board review before findings reach Sheriff Waters. JSO has said it will conduct its own use-of-force investigation once the State Attorney's Office completes its independent probe.
A Pattern of Domestic Calls Turning Deadly
This is not the first time a Jacksonville domestic disturbance call has ended in an officer-involved shooting this year. In February, JSO officers shot and killed 62-year-old Jose Cabrera on Fox Tail Lane after he emerged from a vehicle armed with a large knife and advanced toward officers responding to a domestic violence call. In May, District 2 patrol officers responded to a domestic disturbance on Eberly Drive that also ended in an officer-involved shooting, after a suspect reportedly held a woman and infant at gunpoint.
The frequency of these calls reflects a broader trend: JSO recorded 5,442 reported domestic violence cases in 2025, up from 5,334 in 2024. Under agency transparency protocols, JSO periodically releases a Critical Incident Briefing video featuring body-worn camera footage, dispatch audio, and narration from the Chief of Professional Standards once the State Attorney's Office grants initial clearance — meaning bodycam footage from the Westdale Drive shooting could become public in the coming weeks.
The incident also arrives amid a statewide legislative push to strengthen protections for law enforcement. In June, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Officer Jason Raynor Act, which mandates life imprisonment without parole for anyone convicted of killing a law enforcement officer and expands penalties for assault or battery on officers. Anyone with information about the Westdale Drive shooting can contact JSO's non-emergency line at 904-630-0500, or 911 in an emergency.
