FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The U.S. flag tightly wrapped U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Jean’s closed casket on Thursday as it descended from a United Airlines plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Jean’s wife, Andranik Drummond-Reid; his sister, Vanessa Servius; his brother, Jean Scaintira, and other relatives watched as six honor guards, three on each side, carried the casket to a hearse.
“He left a wife, he left two kids, he left a sister, he left a brother and he left a mother,” Drummond-Reid said.
Jean grew up in Broward County and graduated from Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. Servius said Jean was proud of his service for the U.S. Army and he loved the military.
“He gave me my first salute when I commissioned,” said Servius, who serves in the U.S. Army.
Drummond-Reid said the 34-year-old father was devoted to his military service and to his family. He was stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado when he was killed during a shooting on April 3.
Jean had just been promoted when he decided to celebrate with friends on April 2 in Colorado Springs. Hours later, about 1:30 a.m., officers found Jean dead after a shooting outside of the Epic Hookah Lounge at 4785 Barnes Rd.
“The one thing I want, I want justice for John,” Scaintira said.
Relatives learned Jean’s friend got into an argument, someone pulled out a gun, shots were fired and both Jean and another man were shot.
The man injured survived. Jean died at the scene. The Colorado Springs Police Department hasn’t made any arrests in the case.
Servius said Jean was loving to his 13-year-old son and his 15-year-old stepdaughter. She said his nephews really miss him and her one-year-old child won’t stop asking when he will be back.
Servius has a message for the killer: “As long as I am alive, whoever did it, just know that as long as I am alive, you are being sought. I am looking for you. I am going to make sure he gets justice ... My brother loved me too much for me to just let this go.”