JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing a 2-year-old boy during a domestic violence shooting.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced that Steven Dodson pleaded guilty to First-Degree Murder, Attempted First-Degree Murder, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Aggravated Child Abuse.
Dodson entered his guilty plea in open court shortly after a Duval County grand jury indicted him on the charges. Following the plea, Judge Jonathan Sacks sentenced him to life in the Florida Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.
The charges stem from a March 22, 2026, shooting at an apartment complex on Labelle Street in Jacksonville.
According to investigators, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a person being shot and found a 2-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The child was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
Investigators determined Dodson had fired at a woman with whom he was in a relationship while she was holding the child in her arms. The woman identified Dodson as the shooter.
Surveillance video from the apartment complex captured Dodson fleeing the scene and throwing a handgun into a dumpster before running away, investigators said.
Another witness told detectives they heard Dodson and the woman arguing moments before hearing a gunshot and the woman screaming that her child had been shot. A child who witnessed the incident also provided information to investigators.
Dodson was arrested the following day by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT team at a nearby apartment complex.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney LaTesha Campbell.