BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The man who killed two women near Providence on Tuesday, February 3, and then took his own life, posted a pair of videos on TikTok in which he described the collapse of his 13-year relationship with one of the victims.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said that around 4:30 p.m., it received reports of shots being fired near County Road 241.
Deputies found two deceased females on the scene, identified as Candice P. Joseph, 43, of Lake Butler, and Marisa Salome Jimenez, 42, of San Antonio, Texas. Witnesses said the shooter, identified as 47-year-old Jason Eric Holton of Lake Butler, left in a 2020 black Ford F-150.
“A statewide notice went out at the time the suspect fled the scene before our arrival,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “(The) suspect was located traveling southbound on I-75 by Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol units…Law enforcement conducted a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle and suspect in an effort to apprehend the suspect. (A) SWAT Team was activated and (the suspect) was discovered deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
In the two-part video, recorded around 13 hours before the Providence shootings, Holton addressed followers of a TikTok account associated with his former partner, Joseph. He said the couple had been together since 2013.
Joseph, a TikTok influencer with over 675,000 followers, used the platform to discuss the personality traits of people born under various zodiac signs and to promote clothing and jewelry.
Holton described discovering on January 19 that his partner had begun an online relationship with someone she met on TikTok. He said this was the second time she had engaged in such behavior, with the first occurring at the end of 2020 through TikTok and Snapchat. He said the couple had reconciled after that earlier incident and had several good years together.
After the January 2026 discovery, Holton said the emotional toll became overwhelming. He disclosed that on January 20 or 21, he attempted suicide and was subsequently hospitalized for nine days in a medical facility and a mental health facility. He said Joseph did not visit him during his hospitalization.
Following his release, Holton said he believed the couple was reconciling. However, he said he caught his partner buying a new cell phone to secretly communicate with someone else. Holton said he asked her to leave the home, and she did.
According to Holton, within two days of their separation, Joseph changed her TikTok bio from “happily married” to him to “happily engaged” to another individual. He claimed Joseph had never met this person in real life until the day before the video was recorded, and that she was planning to relocate from Florida to San Antonio, Texas, with the individual.
The 47-year-old added that he had been the subject of a two-hour TikTok live session in which he was publicly criticized, and that he felt his reputation had been unfairly damaged. He said he wanted viewers to hear his account of events.
After airing his side of the story, Holton said he wished his former partner well.
“I love you very much,” Holton said, addressing Joseph. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve peace. I want that for you. I absolutely do. Whether the happiness or peace was with me or with anybody else, we all deserve to be happy.”
Union County Sheriff’s Captain Lyn Williams said up to four people witnessed the shooting near Providence. He added that Holton was at the residence when Joseph and Jimenez drove up to the property, presumably to collect Joseph’s belongings before her move to Texas with Jimenez.
“I think it happened pretty quickly,” the captain said. “Argument started, and boom. At least that’s what we believe.”
