Foul play suspected in death of Palatka man
Florida Crime News
Police responding to a call Monday about a prowler found a Palatka man dead on the front porch of a residence in the 700 block of Oak Street.
Jerry Mattear, 57, did not live at the house where he was found about 10 p.m. and may have been homeless, though he did stay in the neighborhood, said spokesman David Parsons of the Palatka Police Department.
Mattear was unresponsive and declared dead by rescue workers. Parsons said police do not have a cause of death and were awaiting an autopsy Tuesday. He said foul play is suspected.
Source: Crime
Teens arrested in fatal shooting of Brunswick baby
Florida Crime News
4:40 p.m. update: The mother of the slain 13-month-old Brunswick baby boy said she is heading back to family in New Jersey after hearing of the arrest of two young men in connection with his Thursday murder.
Sherry West said she had picked out the two teens? photographs Friday morning in a police photo line-up, saying one ?looked about 15, but he looked like a man with a gun.? Her voice breaking, she said she is ?missing my baby a lot? and very sad that her family ?never got to meet the newest addition to the family before he was shot.?
Source: Crime
Possible murder weapon found in Brunswick slaying
Florida Crime News
BRUNSWICK, GA. | Investigators have found a handgun that will be tested to determine if it is linked to the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Angel Santiago, police said.
?I can tell you we found a gun. I can?t tell you if it?s the gun we were looking for,? Brunswick police spokesman Todd Rhodes said.
Rhodes declined to say when and where the weapon was found. He said that it?s a very important investigation because a child was killed.
?We don?t want to do or say anything that would hurt that investigation,? he said.
Source: Crime
Cost of juvenile detention stings First Coast counties
Florida Crime News
A state system for charging counties to house juveniles in detention facilities is costing Northeast Florida governments three to six times what they pay to house adults in local jails.
Counties paid $248 a day to send juveniles to state Department of Juvenile Justice facilities in the 2011-12 fiscal year, according to state records.
?I?m housing adults that are murderers in this jail for $70 a day,? said Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler, who wants relief but has few places to turn.
Source: Crime
Black Hammock Island fire closes roads
Florida Crime News
Black Hammock Island on Jacksonville?s Northside is shut down to all traffic coming and going because of a wildfire, the Jacksonville Sheriff?s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said.
Other road closings are on Cedar Point Road, Sheffield Road, Boney Road and Nungezer Road.
Check back with Jacksonville.com for more and read Wednesday?s Times-Union.
Source: Crime
Putnam County sheriff's son arrested
Florida Crime News
The son of Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy has been charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property belonging to his stepfather.
Joshua Troy Imm, 29, was arrested Thursday and a transmission and other metal were sold to a Palatka scrap dealer in December and January. His stepfather, Andrew Imm, went to the Sheriff?s Office Tuesday and told investigators he waited to report the thefts in case his stepson admitted to taking the items.
Source: Crime
Fatal accident Tuesday closes southbound lanes of Blanding Boulevard in Middleburg
Florida Crime News
Southbound lanes of Blanding Boulevard in Middleburg have been closed Tuesday afternoon due to a traffic fatality.
The 2800 block of Blanding should be avoided following the accident at Burroughs Road, according to the Clay County Sheriff?s Office. Southbound traffic is being routed through Forman Circle. Severe traffic congestion is expected through the afternoon.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the accident. No other details were immediately available.
Dana Treen: (904) 359-4091
Source: Crime
Jacksonville Beach man, 77, pleads guilty to manslaughter in shooting
Florida Crime News
An outcry from family nearly stopped a Jacksonville Beach senior citizen from dropping a Stand Your Ground claim and pleading guilty to shooting a man on the sidewalk outside his home.
Vannie Joshua Collier, 77, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Friday in the death of 38-year-old Robert Moore. A hearing on whether Collier could claim self-defense was scheduled to begin minutes before, but that was dropped when he pleaded guilty.
Source: Crime