Shooting victim a compassionate father

Derrick Lamont Hartley was a compassionate father as well as a passionate real estate agent not afraid to give back to the North Jacksonville community where he grew up, said co-worker and friend Cheryl Stewart.

That's why news of his shooting death after a Saturday fight at Moncrief Road and West 35th Street was a shock, she said.

As 40-year-old William Clyde Broadnax sits in the Duval County jail charged with second-degree murder, tributes poured in on the "Remembering Derrick Hartley" Facebook page. That includes a woman who Hartley had helped get her first home, saying there was sadness in her heart because he wanted to help people become "what most thought they could never be and that’s a homeowner."

Stewart, who worked with Hartley at Trinity Real Estate, echoed those feelings as she spoke of the 36-year-old father of five.

"Disbelief first of all, echoing all the sentiments of anyone who had the privilege of meeting him. He was just inherently a good guy," Stewart said. "He was someone who was really passionate about people and helping, and when you learn about something as senseless as how he left this earth, it was devastating. ... What happened has us standing here with mouths wide open. He wasn't someone who had a reputation of starting stuff. He was a father and husband first and a Realtor second; those were his top priorities."

Broadnax's arrest report details some of what happened Saturday night.

Some kind of altercation began just before 10 p.m. between the men after witnesses said Broadnax backed into Hartley's vehicle in a parking lot, the arrest report said. That incited an argument that then escalated. Hartley was shot several times, then the gunman fled before police arrived. Detectives interviewed several people at the scene, which developed leads that led to Broadnax's arrest at his home on Bethel Road.

Hartley's final post on the Trinity Real Estate Facebook site was Thursday as he congratulated a couple on their new home ownership by reminding them that he "told them to be patient" and he would find them a home. Stewart said that was the kind of co-worker he was.

"He really was in the business to try and better people's lives by introducing them to home ownership," she said. "He was very family-oriented. Anyone who knew him knew first about his wife and those beautiful children."

Stewart said Hartley had family in the area near where he was killed and had just done a career day speech at Ribault High School to show students how to "follow their dreams and follow his example."

"He was very passionate about going back to the neighborhood and trying to make a difference," she said. "... He never forgot where he came from, so he wasn't fearful to go back because he was well respected."

Broadnax, whose jail listing says he's been a lifetime Jacksonville resident, had one prior arrest on a trespassing charge in 2006.

Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549