OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — An off-duty Osceola County deputy shot and killed 16-year-old Jairus Jones at a Walmart on Cypress Parkway in Poinciana last Thursday.
The teenager’s mother visited the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning to watch body-worn camera footage of the incident.
The sheriff’s office explained that it cannot release all the footage publicly due to state law, which prohibits fully sharing graphic content depicting a minor’s death. Such a release is classified as a third-degree felony.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office shared an eight-second video clip of the incident. It depicts Jones with a gun, then tripping and losing his shoes. Deputy Terence Blackmon is visible holding a taser and telling Jones to drop the weapon.
The clip also shows Jones fleeing from an exit door toward customers, with the gun visible in the deputy’s right hand during the pursuit, before the footage ends.
Yamil Villanueva, a corrections officer who was a bystander at the Walmart, assisted at the scene after the shooting. Villanueva said he witnessed the deputy give multiple commands to the teenager.
“Then the gun fell,” Villanueva said. “The officer directed him not to pick up the gun and leave the gun on the floor, do not pick it up. He didn’t comply.”
Villanueva showed a photo of the handgun deputies recovered from the store and appeared in other footage with his own weapon drawn after the shots were fired.
Deputy Blackmon has been with the sheriff’s office since 2022. The department confirmed he has no relation to Sheriff Christopher Blackmon.
On Tuesday, Channel 9 obtained the Sheriff’s Office’ Response to Resistance and Aggression Policy.
It states deputies should, “Attempt to achieve control through verbal commands and de-escalation techniques whenever possible.”
The policy also states several factors need to be considered when responding to resistance including the possession of weapons.
According to the policy, deadly force is a last resort but acceptable if the subject makes “overt, hostile, attacking movements with or without a weapon with the apparent intent and apparent ability to cause death or great bodily harm to the member or others.”
After the Florida Department of Law Enforcement completes it’s review of the incident the Sheriff’s office will also review the case to see if there were any policy violations.
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