Jacksonville tenants speak out over months-long mice infestation at Westside apartment complex

Tenants at the Lake Park Colonial Apartments on Edgewood Avenue in Jacksonville’s Westside are speaking out about a persistent mice infestation in their building.

Residents—including the mother of a two-week-old newborn infant—say the pest problem has gone unresolved for several months despite repeated notifications sent to management.

The apartment complex is managed by corporate property firm Navarino. Residents pointed out physical structural defects around the exterior of the building, including visible gaps in the brickwork and an exposed PVC pipe, which they believe mice are using as entry points into individual apartment units.

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Leah Alonso, who has lived alone at Lake Park Colonial Apartments for almost three years, noted that the pest problem initially seemed confined to one side of the building. However, tenants say the mice have since multiplied and built a widespread presence across the property.

Alonso said she discovered mice in her living space, including one rodent that was trapped directly under her kitchen stove. After paying $150 out of her own pocket for private pest control services, technicians discovered two open holes in the wall directly behind the appliance.

The infestation also forced Alonso to discard food supplies after discovering rodent droppings scattered throughout her kitchen pantry.

“If I’m in the kitchen, you can hear them in the walls,” Alonso said. “Anything that was boxed, I don’t care if it was sealed or not, it was going in the trash.”

Alonso described hearing rodents inside her apartment while speaking on the phone. “I hear ‘eeee,’ I’m like, what? You know. It’s ‘eeeee.’ He’s starting screeching, and I’m on the phone, and I am like, there’s a mouse. There is a mouse in the kitchen,” Alonso said.

Alonso’s neighbor, Rieau Newsome, said she has been dealing with the mice infestation since before giving birth to her child two weeks ago. Newsome recalled catching multiple mice in her apartment over Mother’s Day weekend in May.

“Mother’s Day weekend, we caught five,” Newsome said. Expressing serious concern for her infant’s safety, she added, “I don’t want to bring my child back into the apartment and this is what’s going on. This is dangerous.”

Newsome documented multiple attempts to contact property management regarding the ongoing issue. She showed text message records sent to management dated May 10, May 14, June 3, Aug. 5, and during the previous week.

Action News Jax went to the property’s leasing office seeking answers regarding the tenant complaints and repair requests. An employee working at the leasing office declined to discuss the situation on camera.

“You might want to call the corporate office,” the leasing office employee said.

Action News Jax reached out directly to Navarino, who oversees the Lake Park Colonial Apartments property, but had not received a response back yet.

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