A Jacksonville teenager was sentenced to 30 years in prison this week for the killing of a man found shot multiple times inside his apartment across from Westside High School, closing out a case that began when the defendant was just 16 years old. Alex Jovan Reddice Jr., now 18, was ordered into the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections after being convicted in connection with the death of Carlos Alberto Nieves Rivera.
According to News4JAX, court records show Reddice was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with credit for 596 days he had already spent in jail. The station reported that Reddice pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery on July 28, 2026, during a pretrial hearing, rather than being found guilty at a Sept. 11 trial. Reddice was told he has 30 days to appeal the sentence.
A Shooting That Shook the Neighborhood
The shooting itself has been reported with conflicting dates across outlets. News4JAX said the shooting happened the morning of Jan. 23, 2025, at an apartment complex on Firestone Road across from Westside High School, with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office receiving a call about the shooting at approximately 7:40 a.m. that day. WOKV, however, reported the shooting occurred at about 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2025, while Crime Solvers Central listed the date as Jan. 22, 2025.
Rivera's age has also been reported inconsistently. News4JAX identified him as 31-year-old Carlos Alberto Nieves Rivera, while Action News Jax and WOKV identified him as 31 years old. What is consistent across the reporting is that Rivera was shot multiple times and died at the scene, according to the station's report.
Investigators Say Witnesses Named the Shooter
Reddice, who was 16 at the time, had been among several Westside High students who went to Rivera's apartment before school, per News4JAX's account. Investigators said students at the apartment and another witness identified Reddice as the shooter. Officers who responded found Rivera suffering from multiple gunshot wounds inside the apartment.
A search warrant led investigators to find a large amount of marijuana, cash and other illegal narcotics inside the apartment, the station notes. Rivera's girlfriend told WOKV that neighborhood boys would often come over before school, and he'd sometimes give them marijuana — a detail that adds context to why a group of students was gathered there that morning.
School Placed on Alert as Investigation Unfolded
The shooting's proximity to Westside High School prompted an immediate response from Duval County Public Schools. The school was placed on alert and temporarily closed while law enforcement investigated, according to News4JAX's earlier coverage of the case. District officials said the shooting was not connected to the school itself and that the alert was issued out of an abundance of caution.
Duval County Public Schools said at the time that all students and staff were safe. That reassurance came even as investigators worked the scene at the apartment complex just across from campus, underscoring how close the violence had come to the school day without directly involving it.
What Comes Next
Reddice has 30 days to challenge his 30-year term. The sources provided do not establish how Florida's youthful-offender provisions or the Criminal Punishment Code apply to the sentence.
The case echoes other Jacksonville-area juvenile sentencing disputes over the years. In 2015, the Florida Supreme Court threw out a 70-year sentence for a Jacksonville man who had been 14 at the time of his arrest for attempted murder, according to Jacksonville.com. Reddice's sentence now joins a list of lengthy Florida prison terms handed to teenage defendants in fatal shooting cases, though the precise basis for his 30-year term has not been made public.
