Molino Shooting Suspect Appears In Court
September 28, 2012
A man accused of shooting at an occupied mobile home in Molino on August 22 was in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Sharrieff Amin Shabazz, age 19 of Molino, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault by threat with firearm, discharging a firearm in public, shooting into an occupied dwelling, possession of cocaine, and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $71,000.
Thursday, judge Jan Shackelford set Shabazz’s jury trial to begin December 3.
The victim, 21-year old Kristi Gulsby, told deputies she was arguing with Shabazz over $6 he had loaned her about three months ago for cigarettes. Gulsby said she had paid him back twice.
Gulsby told deputies that Shabazz began cussing her out and screaming that he wanted his money. She said he then reached into his pants pocket and pulled a gun. As he began walking toward the road, Shabazz opened fire on the mobile home with Gulsby and her two juvenile children, one and four years old, nearby, an arrest report states.
No one was struck by the gunfire.
Shabazz was taken into custody a few hours after the shooting during a traffic stop at the intersection of Fairground Road and Jahaza Street in Molino. As the vehicle pulled over for Escambia County deputies, an ATF special agent working the case witnessed a silver handgun and two pill bottles being thrown out of the backseat, which was occupied by Shabazz. Deputies recovered a .380 caliber handgun outside the vehicle along with pill bottles containing 18 Lortab and cocaine. Inside the vehicle’s trunk, authorities reported finding marijuana in a Mason jar and plastic bags.
Pictured above and below: Gunfire rang out at this mobile home on Ayers Street in Molino August 22. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Second Person Arrested In Child Abuse Case
September 28, 2012
A second person has been arrested after investigators determined he was involved in beating a 3-year old boy who died last week.
Cornelius A. Jones, 30, was charged with one count of aggravated battery on a child.
Nicole Renee Henderson, 27, was arrested last week on four counts of aggravated child abuse after an investigation determined that she severely beat four children with a belt.
The investigation began after 3-year old Markevion Hixon was taken by ambulance to Baptist Hospital Thursday night after he choked on a hot dog. Markevion died just after 7 p.m.
Henderson was Hixon’s legal guardian because his father, Demarcus Hixon, is in jail and his mother is deceased. Pensacola Police Department Detective Shannan Fortenberry said Henderson had been Markevion’s primary caregiver since September 3 when his father was arrested.
During an autopsy on Friday, a number of injuries unrelated to his death were found on Markevion’s body. The injuries were at various points of healing and were consistent with him being whipped with a belt or a cord, Fortenberry said.
Fortenberry said Markevion had injuries on his abdomen, legs, arms, chest, and back in addition to recent injuries on his backside that appeared to be friction type burns on both buttocks.
It was determined three of four other children who live with Henderson also had been beaten and had similar injuries to those found on Markevion. Henderson said she used a belt when disciplining the children.
The investigation expanded after an anonymous caller contacted the Department of Children and Families hotline and said someone saw Henderson and her boyfriend, Cornelius
Jones, grab Markevion by his arm and beat him after he soiled his pants.
Four children – ages two, four, five, and six – have been removed from the home by the Department of Children and Family Services. Police said the investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible.
Jones remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $250,000; Henderson is being held without bond.
Cross Country Results
September 28, 2012
Here are team results from a recent cross county meet at Sims Middle School in Pace:
Girls
- Gulf Breeze 51
- Pace 52
- Navarre 63
- Pensacola Christian 141
- Pensacola 197
- T.R. Miller 202
- Milton 220
- Tate 237
- Northview 335
- Ernest Ward Middle 543
Boys
- Washington 48
- Navarre 53
- Pace 83
- Pensacola Christian 91
- Tate 155
- Gulf Breeze 168
- T.R. Miller 200
- Pensacola 222
- Milton 435
- Northview 586
- Ernest Ward 590
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Man Gets 20 Years For Firing At Mother, Son
September 28, 2012
A 55-year old Escambia County man was sentenced to state prison after firing a gun at two people.
Bradley Tyndall was sentenced to 20 years minimum mandatory state prison by Circuit Judge J. Scott Duncan. Tyndall was convicted by an Escambia County Jury of three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.
On September 20, 2011, Tyndall become involved in a verbal confrontation with the victim while in the victim’s residence. During the confrontation, Tyndall left and returned with a rifle, pointed it at the victim and said “boom”. Tyndall then left the residence and retreated to his nearby travel trailer. The victim attempted to call a family member of Tyndall and give him the phone at which point Tyndall again picked up the rifle and pointed it at the victim. The victim then ran away toward her residence when Tyndall fired one shot in her direction.
After the first shot, Tyndall then followed the victim into her residence and then fired a second shot in her direction. After hearing two shots, the victim’s son exited a room in the residence and pled for Tyndall to not shoot his mother at which point Tyndall then fired a shot in the direction of the son. After firing three shots, Tyndall left the rifle in the residence and retreated back to his travel trailer.
Pensacola Police Officers quickly responded to the residence and secured a perimeter around the travel trailer. Tyndall exited and climbed underneath the trailer at which point Pensacola Police Department SWAT team was activated. After a long period of negotiations, Tyndall eventually surrendered to police.
Man Escapes Murder Charges, Gets Year On Drug Charge
September 28, 2012
An Escambia County man that escaped a murder charge was sentenced to prison Thursday on a drug charge.
Bryan Andrew Hines was sentenced following a conviction for possession with intent to purchase marijuana. Hines was also originally charged with felony murder for the death of Frederick Ortiz, which occurred at the same time as the drug transaction, but he was acquitted of that crime by the jury.
Hines was sentenced by Judge Joel Boles to 11 months and 30 days in the county jail followed by 24 months probation, and bond was set at $10,000 pending his appeal.
The State Attorney’s Office requested the maximum possible sentence of five years and that he begin to serve his sentence immediately.
At trial, evidence was presented showing that Hines contacted Ortiz to purchase marijuana, and they agreed to meet at a location near Hines’ home. When Ortiz arrived,
Hines got into his vehicle and they discussed the marijuana purchase. A witness testified that during the course of that transaction, another man approached the vehicle and fired a gun.
The witness then ran from the scene.
After several more shots were heard, the witness returned to find Ortiz lying dead in the street with a single gunshot to his torso. Hines was subsequently identified and charged with felony third degree murder after his phone was found inside Ortiz’s vehicle.
Escambia Firm Recycles Construction Debris, Creates Jobs
September 28, 2012
An Escambia County firm recently passed the one million pound mark with material it recycles from construction waste that otherwise would clutter landfills.
Lifecycle Containers also has created six new jobs for workers who identify, sort, transport and recycle construction waste into useful products. Cardboard, for instance, is recycled into concrete forms on other construction jobs. Asphalt and asphalt shingles are converted into roadway material; concrete becomes riprap for seawalls; lumber is donated to a nonprofit group.
Lifecycle Container’s founder is passionate about using creative techniques to protect the environment and reduce waste.
“This passion led me to tackle the huge issue of construction waste needlessly clogging our landfills,” said Allen Bounds. “This issue combined with my desire to create new jobs and do my part to bolster Pensacola’s economy led me to form Lifecycle.”
Bounds started recycling construction debris as a hobby in the late 1990s, but the business became so strong that he incorporated in 2010. The company keeps a sense of fun with its mission – naming its trucks LoLo and Bully and its cardboard-baler Cookie Monster.
It specializes in collecting and converting construction waste from medium-sized commercial buildings and renovations as well as residential additions and renovations.
Lifecycle gets high marks from Christopher Pelt, a project manager for Greenhut Construction Company, which is using Lifecycle while working on building projects for Sacred Heart Hospital.
“The cost is competitive with regular disposal services, so the right thing for any prudent person is to use these services if he cares about recycling materials,” Pelt said.
Pelt said Lifecycle provides “impeccable service” as Greenhut and Sacred Heart move away from the old custom of simply throwing away construction debris. Two Sacred Heart projects already have diverted more than 140,000 pounds of construction debris from the landfill and “we are just getting started,” Pelt said.
In addition to Greenhut and Sacred Heart, Lifecycle also works with Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, Pensacola Sanitation Department, Escambia County Solid Waste Department, the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Green Globes and the United States Green Building Council.
Bounds said he specifically chose to locate the business and its warehouses inside the city limits because he is eager to bolster Pensacola’s economy.
Joseph Wayne Odom
September 28, 2012
Mr. Joseph Wayne Odom, 55, passed away on Wednesday, September 26, 2012, in Flomaton.
Mr. Odom was a native of Bay Minette and a resident of Perdido for the past five years. He drove race cars and motorcycles; he was outgoing and a people person. He was a loving father, grandfather, son and brother.
Mr. Odom was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Jerry Miah and Mary Isabell Odom, maternal grandparents, Joe and Evie Coleman; two brother-in-laws, Ben
Johnson and Paul Hutto; one nephew and two great nieces.
Survivors include his father and mother, Jim & Jeanette Odom of Bay Minette; wife, Ruby Wilson of Perdido; son, Jimmy Joe (Tiffany) Odom of Atmore; two stepsons, Daniel (Elaine) Sheets of Poarch and Jesse Wilson of Perdido; daughter, Katrina (Rickey) Anthony of Brewton 1 stepdaughter, Gwen Wilson of Perdido; eight brothers, Jackey (Shelia) Odom of Nokomis, Johnny (Sandra) Odom of Stapleton, Donald (Charlene) Odom of Barnett Crossroads, Arthur (Susan) Odom of Atmore, Jerry (Tangie) Odom of Electic, AL, Claude (Becky) Odom of Atmore, Eddie (Faye) Odom of Perdido and Tommy (Voncile) Odom of Brewton; six sisters, Gayle Johnson of Poarch, Carolyn (Gary) Posey of Flomaton, Isabell Odom of Flomaton, Joyce (Debbie Fisher) Odom of Del Rio, TX, Jenny Hutto of Bay Minette, and Linda Fink of Gulf Shores; nine grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be Saturday, September 29, 2012, at 10 a.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home in Atmore with the Rev. Richard Daniel and Rev. Tony Richburg officiating.
Burial will follow at the Pineview Cemetery.
Visitation will be Friday, September 28, 2012, from 6-9 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Chad Odom, Jeremy Odom, Joseph Odom, James Johnson, Jesse Wilson and Thomas Posey.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Stanley Stewart, Ronnie Rolin, Matthew Ray, Johnny Colbert, Tyler Boatwright, Joshua Odom, Andrew Odom, Christopher Odom and John Victor.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Atmore Man Convicted Of Century Shotgun Shooting
September 27, 2012
A 56-year old man has been convicted of shooting a man as he ran across busy North Century Boulevard last December.
Willie James Floyd of Atmore was charged with attempted first degree murder, but it took a jury just over four hours to find him guilty of the lesser charge of aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. He will be sentenced in November.
Floyd shot 30-year old Deririck Medlock of Hoover, Ala., December 6, 2011, as he ran across the 8100 block of North Century Boulevard.
Medlock told deputies he was traveling north on North Century Boulevard (Hwy. 29) about 3:50 p.m. when a white four-door vehicle swerved in front of him, cutting him off. Medlock said he pulled into the Century Quick Stop at 8130 North Century Boulevard to calm down after the near-accident.
Medlock said he was outside his vehicle talking on his cellphone when Floyd then pulled into the parking lot and confronted the him, according to an arrest report. Floyd then retrieved a shotgun from his car and fired into Medlock’s car, striking it with birdshot at the roof line above the rear passenger door (pictured left).
The victim then ran across North Century Boulevard when Floyd fired again, striking the victim in the leg with birdshot. Birdshot was also lodged in his wallet in his back pants pocket. Medlock hid behind a tree across North Century Boulevard from the store, where he watched Floyd drive away. Medlock then drove to the Southern Panhandle Restaurant just north of the store and called 911. He was evaluated there by Escambia County EMS, and he refused transport to the hospital.
Other witnesses confirmed the details given by the victim, and at the shooting was captured on the store’s surveillance video. That video has not been released by prosecutors.
For more photos from the scene, click here.
Pictured top: Deririck Medlock of Hoover, Ala., explains how an Atmore man shot him with shotgun December 6, 2011, in Century as Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Frank Way listens. Pictured inset: Damage to the victim’s car. Pictured below: The shooting incident began in this parking lot. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Our View: Problems With Library’s Reasons For Cutting Out North Escambia
September 27, 2012
The West Florida Library announced that hours are being cut at library branches across the county — most dramatically in North Escambia.
Part of the cuts will essentially reduce the Century Branch Library to a part-time library sharing employees and resources with the new Molino Library. The Molino Library will open next month, robbing Peter to pay Paul with staff from Century. The Molino Library will be full of used furniture, taken from the Main Branch which is being replaced with a new building and new furniture, perhaps a wise reuse of taxpayer property. Most of the books on the Molino Library shelves will be duplicates from other branches, donations from citizens and books culled away from an upcoming Friends of the Library book sale. The phrase about a red headed stepchild comes to mind.
In tough budget times, sacrifices are necessary. But wait…the library has increased expenses almost 12 percent in a year. According to Escambia County Administrator Randy Oliver, the county has eliminated about 150 positions and cut expenses by 8.6 percent from 2012 and almost 16 percent since 2009. But not the library.
Escambia County contributes about 70 percent of the library’s funding, while the City of Pensacola kicks in the rest. The county, however, has no say in how their millions are spent by the library. So who gets the shaft from the library? The unincorporated areas of North Escambia.
But the library’s management had reasoning why Molino and Century were cut. But fact checking the reason given to the Escambia County Commission Tuesday night finds the reasoning has more holes than a good Swiss cheese.
“But since Century and Molino are not so far apart from each other, we had to reduce Century’s hours in order to open Molino’s hours. So that the staff that works at Century would pick up their hours at the Molino Library when that opened,” Darlene Howell, acting library administrator told the commission.
Libraries are a great place to do a little research before making such a statement before the board that provides 70 percent of your funding.
The library locations in Century and Molino are not “not so far apart from each other”. From Google maps, we found these distances between library branches. For the Century to Molino distance, we double checked that we had the most direct route, and did not even include any dirt roads.
- Century Branch to Molino Branch — 19.7 miles
- Main Library to Tyron Branch — 6.2 miles
- Main Library to Southwest Branch — 14.5 miles
- Main Library to Westside Branch — 1.3 miles
- Tryon Branch to Westside Branch — 7.1 miles
- Tryon Branch to Southwest — 21.2 miles
Looks like several of the libraries are even more “not so far apart from each other”. Don’t take us wrong…this is not a call to shutdown the very valuable Southwest and Tryon branches. They are a reasonable distance from the main library and serve very important roles in their communities. And, from our experiences, the Tryon Branch is a library and employees in which to take pride.
But while we are talking “not so far apart from each other” — what’s the deal with the Westside Library? Which politician’s pet project what this? If it is as necessary as library management says to cut hours and “share resources”, why is there a branch that is currently operating 60 hours per week (compared to a current 40 hours in Century) just 1.3 miles from the full-featured Main Library? Why are we not sharing resources or closing the Westside Branch just 1.3 miles away rather than Century and Molino at 19.7 miles away?
The Westside Library, if something must be cut, is just a short ECAT bus ride away from the Main Library, or a quick 2-3 minute trip by car. We fail to see how that would be as inconvenient as 19.7 miles — about 40-45 minutes and a couple of expensive gallons of gas round trip.
Westside will see hours of operation cut to 44, while Century will be cut to 24 hours per week. Still not seeing the fairness factor.
Oh wait…the Westside Branch is in the City of Pensacola. And Century…well, Century is just that place where the high school was closed, the middle and elementary schools were closed, the tax collector’s office was closed, the health department was closed….hmm, it’s just the Century Branch Library. And I bet those people in Molino won’t notice if we shaft them either…just a bunch of country folks that probably won’t use the library anyway.
The West Florida Library needs to take notice that North Escambia residents are taxpayers too. The West Florida Library need to take notice that 70 percent of their funding is from Escambia County, and note that the Century and Molino communities are part of Escambia County.
If Escambia County is going to fund 70 percent of the library system budget, Escambia County needs a 70 percent say in how the system is operated.
For an earlier story about the library cutbacks, click here.
Ernest Ward Middle Seeks School Advisory Council Members
September 27, 2012
Ernest Ward Middle School is actively soliciting parents and community members who wish to become part of the School Advisory Council for the 2012-2013 school year.
The SAC is an avenue through which parents can meet with representatives from school administration, teachers, educational support staff, and students to discuss all aspects of student life at Ernest Ward, from academics to extracurricular activities.
The SAC meets at least four times per year. The first meeting will be at noon Friday, September 28 in the school media center.