Family relieved as Sheriff's Office announces arrests in 2019 death of pregnant Jacksonville woman
On Oct. 7, 2019, neighbors heard about 25 shots at a University Townhomes apartment on Justina Road, and 19-year-old Ilyana Iman McGraw was found dead inside. She was nine months pregnant.
Her unborn baby survived, but only for three months, Jacksonville police said. A subsequent police investigation showed that McGraw's boyfriend was the actual target, ultimately arresting him on drug and weapons violations not connected with her death.
On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office announced the arrests of two other Jacksonville men charged with her murder: Gerod Deshea Fields, 28, and George Prince Jr., 29.
Fields was actually arrested a year after the shooting but not charged with murder until Dec. 9, jail records show. Prince also was arrested on Dec. 9, charged with possession of a weapon by a felon, then on Dec. 29 with murder.
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Gloria McGraw, the young woman's aunt, learned of the arrests a few days ago. With emotion in her voice, she said she prays "justice can be served to the max" when Fields and Prince go to trial.
"I feel relieved. We can sleep at night now knowing that justice has been served," she said from her Atlanta home. "We never stopped praying. We never gave up. And Ilyana and her baby Milan can rest now. Even though they are not here with us, it is just a joy and celebration to know these men were caught."
What went down during 'drug feud'
The arrest reports detail what transpired that October night.
Responding officers found McGraw in her dining room, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Rushed to Memorial Hospital, she died from those wounds. But baby daughter Milan Isis McGraw was delivered by emergency surgery, then taken to an Atlanta hospital for special care due to complications from the shooting.
Police reported the baby died on Jan. 11, 2020.
Investigators learned that two guns had been used in the shooting, the reports said. Then a witness told detectives the actual target was McGraw's boyfriend, Miles Davis Hall. It's unclear where he was at the time.
The witness said Hall had earlier shot up Prince's apartment "over a drug feud," but that shooting had never been reported, the reports said. "The witness saw Prince with a handgun and wearing latex gloves, and he said he 'was going to handle something.'"
The witness said Prince ran toward McGraw's apartment, which was less than a half-mile away, then heard multiple gunshots, the reports said. Police found broken glass and several bullet holes and bullets at Prince's apartment when they investigated.
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Then federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents identified Prince and another man as suspects in an unrelated case on Justina Road.
On Oct. 19, 2019, ATF agents arrested the other man in their case, then got access to Prince's cellphone and learned both were in the latter's apartment when it was shot up, the reports said. Under questioning, the other man said Prince and Hall were friends but had a falling out over drugs. The other man also told investigators that just before McGraw was shot and killed, he saw Prince with the latex gloves and a gun, "looking for Hall."
"[The other man] said when he objected to going with Prince, citing he was unsure who had shot up the apartment, Prince said, 'I don't care; I kill women and children too,'" according to the court documents.
About a week after the shooting, authorities took Fields in for questioning with one of the guns used in McGraw's death, according to his arrest report said. Another resident of McGraw's apartment complex also heard the gunshots that October night and looked through a window to see Fields firing a gun.
Living the drug life
Court records also reveal more information about McGraw's boyfriend. A Sheriff's Office search warrant served after her shooting uncovered multiple firearms, ammunition and marijuana packaged for sale in their apartment. McGraw’s cellphone also contained video she took of Hall dancing in the living room holding two of the guns found at the scene.
Hall pleaded guilty on Sept. 2 to the gun-possession charge, as well as for weapon and drug possession, Florida Department of Corrections records indicate. He was sentenced to three years in state prison.
As for Fields and Prince, court records show both men have extensive criminal histories.
"To gun down an innocent woman getting ready to give birth to her unborn child, how cruel could they be," Gloria McGraw said. "I have no sympathy on them, none."
She said she and other relatives will be in court when the two men face trial to "look them in the face and let them know how they destroyed this family."
"Oh yes, I don't care how far I have to drive or what time, I will be there, me and my family," Gloria McGraw said.
dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville police arrest suspects in pregnant woman's 2019 death
