It’s been nearly six decades since a Jacksonville mother of 10 children was gunned down in a racially-motivated attack on New Kings Road and Flicker Avenue.
The only known picture still in existence of Johnnie Mae Chappell, 35, is one that was taken after the tragedy. It shows her husband looking down on her body at the morgue after she had been shot to death.
This photo of Johnnie Mae Chappell's husband with her body at the Duval County morgue is the only picture her son has of his mother. As she was walking, a car carrying four white men pulled up, and one of the men shot her. She died as she was being taken to a hospital.Fifty-eight years later, her youngest son returned Wednesday to the very spot where his mother was attacked, honoring the mother he never got to know. He was just 4 months old when she was killed.“So I never had a chance to say happy birthday. Happy Mother’s Day,” said Shelton Chappell.