October 17, 2016

On Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at 8:43am police officers responded to a small business located at 1705 University Blvd North in Jacksonville, Florida. The owner of the business, Cleo Philip Aska, was found shot to death inside his “Spiritual Heights” store.

Friends of Cleo’s had gone to check on him and discovered his body inside the locked business. Although the exact circumstances of the homicide remain unknown, information obtained during the investigation indicated drugs may have been involved. As we approach the 15th anniversary of Cleo’s murder the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit reached out to us to assist in publicizing this unsolved murder.

Cleo Aska was only 25-years-old when his life was cut short, but he had already accomplished some of his dreams. Cleo was the proud owner of his own business, Spiritual Heights, where he sold music and clothing. His other great joy was being the father of two young boys. Cleo’s oldest son has a few memories of his dad but the youngest was not only robbed of a father but even the memories of one. We reached out to Cleo’s fiancee at the time of his murder and mother of his two children. She had this to say…

“Cleo was a great son, brother, friend, and father. Cleo would always say that his greatest accomplishment came to fruition the day he became a father. Cleo enjoyed spending time with his then 4 and 1 1/2 year old sons, they are now 20 and 16 and they both will have graduations, one from college and the other from high school. Cleo will never have the chance to witness these great accomplishments because someone decided to play GOD and take his life. Cleo’s killer took more than just his life, they took away whatever relationship he could have had with his sons and although his now 20 year son has some memories of him, his 16 year son has none and he struggles with that daily. Cleo was a man with dreams and for many years he worked as a licensed carpenter as means to save money to one day open his own clothing and music store. That dream became a reality in 2000 but sadly his life was also taken in the one place that he worked so hard to obtain, his store. Cleo wanted to be the prime example of how following your dreams and working hard to making those dreams become a reality is possible. Although life has gone on, justice for Cleo is just as important now as was then 15 years ago.”

If you have any information on the unsolved murder of Cleo Philip Aska, no matter how small you think it is, please call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit at (904) 630-1784. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward up to $3,000 you can submit a web tip or call First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.

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If you have a loved one that is the victim of an unsolved homicide please submit their case here for consideration in a future Cold Case Spotlight post.