OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The family of the man who was shot to death at Paddock Mall just two days before Christmas has created a GoFundMe in his honor.
40-year-old David Nathanial Barron died in what police called “targeted act of violence” that sent shoppers and employees scrambling for safety.
Marcia Harrison is Barron’s fiancée. She’s listed as the organizer of the GoFundMe which has set a $6,000 goal.
Harrison tells 352today that she has known Barron for 20 years. They met when she was in high school. Together they share three children – sons aged 5, 9, and 12. According to his obituary, Barron had a total of five children.
“Please feel free to donate a love offering to help support his children and other expenses during this horrific and devastating loss,” says the post on the GoFundMe account which as of Sunday, January 7, has received 14 donations totaling $1,465. The largest is a $500 donation from an anonymous donor.
Harrison says since their father’s death, the children have had a hard time.
“They’re doing the best they can. The 5-year-old obviously he understands but then he keeps asking, ‘Is daddy coming home? Is daddy coming home?’ So, it’s like kind of explaining you know that daddy is in heaven, and then he’s like, ‘Okay.’ But my oldest two, they’re taking it pretty hard,” stated Harrison as she fought back tears.
Barron: Fiancé, Father, Friend
Barron attended East Marion Elementary and Lake Weir High School.
“God blessed David with artistic talent, and he would express himself through art and style… David became a licensed tattoo artist in 2008,” says his family in his obituary.
Harrison says clients would come from out of town just to get artwork done by him. She says he had a contagious spirit that made everyone always gravitate towards him.
“David, was you know just a really compassionate individual, great father, loving man, a provider, a true friend. I mean everybody loved him,” described Harrison. “He was just a great, great person. He had a lot of friends. Everybody knew him. His family loved him. He’s really the life of the party type person.”
Just a night before the shooting, Harrison says they were all together watching a movie. She describes the tragedy as “crushing” with their lives seemingly changing in the blink of an eye.
She tells us Barron was at the mall that deadly Saturday shopping for a gift for her.
“That’s why this is so hard because I’m like he didn’t even have to do that… he could’ve just got me a gift card and I would’ve been fine,” said Harrison as she began to cry.
Search for Suspected Shooter
Authorities are still looking for 39-year-old Albert J. Shell Jr. who they believe is responsible for killing Barron and wounding a female bystander who Harrison says had no connection to her fiancé. On Friday evening, the Ocala Police Department (OPD) increased the reward to $20,000 for anyone with any information that helps lead to his arrest.
Barron’s Background
Harrison says she has no idea why her fiancé would have been targeted and claims Barron had no involvement with the suspected shooter.
“David was a good person. I don’t feel like anybody should be judged by their non-violent arrest record,” said Harrison when we asked about his criminal history.
Barron has been booked into the Marion County jail 18 times over the last 20 years. The first time in 2004 at age 20 for driving on a suspended license. His most recent arrest was in 2019 for drug possession, fleeing, eluding and driving on a suspended license. He was found guilty on all four of those charges in 2020. In all, Barron has a dozen felony convictions including domestic battery and was considered a habitual offender of driving on a suspended license.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he made some mistakes and actually most of his charges were nonviolent like license suspended you know that type of thing. But he’s a non-violent person. None of his charges are violent. Everybody you know makes mistakes. They shouldn’t be damaged by that,” said Harrison. “He wasn’t violent. He didn’t have enemies. You know so it’s just a horrible, devastating situation. That’s what people need to focus on because there’s children without a father. There’s me without my love. You know it’s a broken family at the end of the day and justice needs to be served and this killer, cold blooded killer has not been apprehended.”
Community Healing
While police search for the suspected shooter, they’re also trying to heal a traumatized community.
On Thursday, OPD held an informational meeting in collaboration with the Florida Crisis Response Team (FCRT) for anyone impacted by the shooting. Harrison says she is praying for those who were traumatized from the incident.
“Nobody should ever have to go through that just two days before Christmas just doing something that people do – shopping. David went in the mall. He had no intentions of not coming home,” added Harrison. “Families are broken. You know devastated. I know the people there. I can’t even imagine you know all the people, the children there. I’m just grateful that there weren’t more casualties because it could’ve been when you have someone just shooting out in the middle of a public place.”
READ MORE: Ocala police department offering resources to anyone traumatized by mall shooting
OPD says the mental health experts from FCRT were provided to allow those impacted to “understand their reactions to the tragedy, learn effective coping methods, and access local resources to help themselves and their loved ones.”
Harrison says she hopes those effected can also have some sense of peace and prays that they can get through this.
Celebration of Life
Barron’s family and friends gathered Saturday to celebrate his life at the House of God Church on Northwest 27th Avenue.
Harrison says she wants her fiancé to be remembered for the happiness he created, not the chaos stemming from the shooting.
“He had a great personality, a sense of humor. He was very funny, made people laugh all of the time. So, I want him to be remembered you know by his vibrant self.”
As for her, she’s clinging to what she can.
“The outpouring of love, words of comfort, the calls, the texts,” said Harrison. “You know he made some of the best memories of my life so now this is really hard that someone that gave me the best memories is now a memory.”
If you’d like to share condolences with Barron’s family, you can post a message on the tribute wall on Snow’s Funeral Home website.
