Only on Action News Jax, the family of a 16-year-old shot and killed in a Mandarin parking lot in 2023 is reacting to the convicted killer’s 45-year prison sentence.
A judge just sentenced 21-year-old Colton Moore to 45 years behind bars for the murder of Derek Pitts.
In December 2023, 16-year-old Derek Pitts was shot and killed in an apartment parking lot on Old St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville.
Action News Jax covered the arrest back in February of 2024.
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Investigators later arrested Colton Moore in February 2024 in connection with Pitt’s death.
He was charged with second-degree murder. A judge sentenced Moore to 45 years behind bars.
“We are all relieved with how the judge handled this and the sentence that he was given,” said Jeremy Greenfield, Pitts’s uncle.
“It was a senseless act of violence, and it didn’t have to be, and everybody did lose,” said Rose Marie Minchella, Pitts’ grandmother.
Derek’s uncle, Jeremy Greenfield, and his grandparents, Rosemarie and Thomas Minchella, were both present at the sentencing.
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“We were totally relieved, all of us,” said Greenfield. “The whole family was very relieved when we heard 45 years. We’ve been going through so much. We’re able to close this chapter in our life, try to move on,” said Greenfield.
“He was my firstborn grandson,” said Rose Marie Minchella. “He was the one to carry on the Pitts’ name. And we don’t have that now.”
Derek’s family wants to thank the State Attorney’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for their help during this process.
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