On December 8, 2024, 18-year-old Malachi Lancaster was shot and killed during a hunting trip in Alachua, Florida. Malachi was full of life, an AB honor roll student, athlete, a loving son, a protective brother, and a young Black man with dreams of entrepreneurship and ministry. He deserved a future. He deserved truth. And he deserves justice.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the lead agency on the investigation, ruled Malachi’s death an accident, claiming that a vine had caused the fatal discharge of the weapon. This conclusion leaves many questions unanswered and provides inadequate closure to the family and the community who loved and supported him.

Here’s what we know:

 • 🧬 The Medical Examiner could not confirm the incident as accidental, ruling the cause of death undetermined due to conflicting accounts and unclear forensic evidence.

 • 🧪 Ballistics and DNA analysis were inconclusive. The bullet that killed Malachi could not be matched to either firearm on scene with certainty.

 • 🗣️ The only eyewitness gave two different versions of what happened, first claiming Malachi fell from a tree stand, then later saying the gun discharged while Malachi was walking.

 • 🔍 The crime scene was not properly preserved, with an appearance of tampering and staging 

Despite all this, FWC closed the case and declared it non-criminal, without a grand jury, without a full homicide investigation, and without accountability.

We believe this was not a thorough or impartial investigation. Malachi was a young 18 year old African American senior high school student who had a deep love for all people, his heart was open, and his character spoke for itself. But in the aftermath of his death, the justice system has revealed troubling signs of racial bias. Investigators chose to accept the changing and evolving versions of events given by a white 16 year old witness, a so-called “friend”, despite glaring inconsistencies and evidence that tells a different story.

Malachi’s father, a retired military veteran and current law enforcement officer, has spent his life protecting and serving this nation.” But when injustice struck his own family, the system failed him. What do you do when Justice Fails Those Who Serve It?

We are asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to intervene and reopen the investigation, to bring in independent experts, review all forensic evidence, and pursue a complete and unbiased examination of what really happened that day.

Malachi’s life mattered. He was a child of God. He was a leader. He was loved. We will not let his death be written off without answers.

📢 Please sign this petition to demand that FDLE reopen the investigation into Malachi Lancaster’s death. Let’s make sure no family has to walk through this kind of injustice in silence.

#JusticeForMalachiLancaster

#Malachi’sLifeMattered #JusticeIsForAll

 #ReopenTheCase