EDGWATER, Fla. — A fight ended with two people shot in Edgewater, and a mother is left to mourn the killing of her son.
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John Ellis, 39, was shot and killed Thursday night, and the two suspects charged with his death are now in jail.
Police arrested Walter Russell and his fiancée, Laura Carter, on Friday.
They believe Russell pulled the trigger, and Carter helped him.
Channel 9 spoke with the victim’s mother and daughter on Saturday.
They said they were holding their breath for the moment they would get a call about something tragic happening to Ellis because of the life he was living.
Margie Ellis said for 20 years, she feared she would have to bury her son.
“He told me six weeks ago when he was here, you said I will always use, I’ll always be on something,” she said.
Mya Ellis has never seen her father off drugs.
Read: Edgewater police arrest suspected gunman, fiancée after 3 shot, 1 killed in the woods
“Even though he had a drug addiction, he was still a good father when he was around,” she said. “He wasn’t around all the time.”
Margie Ellis said for 20 years, she’s been waiting and wondering if he would change.
His family says they will never know if he would have had the strength to change.
“My son was shot in the head,” Margie said.
Police said three people were shot on Juniper Drive in Edgewater Thursday night.
Two victims were treated at the hospital.
Margie Ellis said it was a drug deal and involved money.
“This is what I was worried about, was my worst nightmare,” she said.
Read: Man hospitalized after shooting in Pine Hills, deputies say
Police said there was a dispute before John Ellis was killed.
“I always thought if it would happen, he would overdose, or, you know, something like that,” Mya Ellis said. “And I’ve always worried about that. And just to find out like that…he died because somebody killed him.”
John Ellis had five children and three grandchildren, whom Margie Ellis said she would continue to raise.
“I’m trying to stay strong, but I can’t,” she said. “It’s too hard.”
Margie Ellis hopes other people struggling with addiction can turn their lives around before it’s too late.
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