Escambia Mom Convicted Of Manslaughter In Death Of 9-Year Old
May 11, 2019
An Escambia County woman has been convicted in the death of her adopted daughter.
Grace Smith, 71, was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse after Veronica Posey, her 325-pound niece Veronica Posey sat on 9-year old Derricka Lindsay as a form of punishment. Lindsay could not breathe and died.
A Escambia County jury took about 2.5 hours to return the guilty verdict against Smith. She will be sentenced in late May.
Posey was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Smith’s husband, James Smith, pleaded no contest to aggravated manslaughter and received 10 years in state prison.
Pine Forest Beats Escambia For First District Title In 12 Years
May 11, 2019
The Pine Forest Eagles won their first district championship in 12 years Friday night, claiming the District 1-7A title with a 3-0 win over the Escambia Gators.
Jason Roberts pitched a complete game win for Pine Forest, giving up zero runs on four hits and striking out three over seven innings.
Tekoah Roby led Pine Forest, going 2-2 with one RBI. Also for Pine Forest: John Pinette 1-3, R; Timmy Williams 1-3; Nolan Rigby 1-3, R; Chase Gullat 1-2, RBI.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Aggies Football Players Volunteer At Molino Park, Kingsfield Elementary Schools
May 11, 2019
Tate Aggie football players continued their outreach service Friday morning, helping out in the car rider lines at Molino Park and Kingsfield elementary schools. Next week, they will be at Jim Allen and Lipscomb elementary schools.
Photos by Kristi Barbour and Dorrian Vance for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Inspirational Student Hero Awards Presented
May 11, 2019
The annual Cox Inspirational Student Hero Awards were presented to 52 Escambia County students.
“These students have overcome so much in their young lives while maintaining positive attitudes and being a joy for those around them,” said Gulf Coast Market vice president David Deliman. “They deserve their time in the spotlight for being such an inspiration to us all.”
The students were chosen by a committee of leaders at their school, due to their resilience in the face of adversity. Whether they have overcome a loss of a family member, medical issue, difficult family situation or other hardship, they did so with a smile on their face and continued to encourage and inspire others around them.
During the event, Cox presented the students with a personalized engraved medallion and certificates of honor. The students were also presented with certificates of achievement from Congressman Matt Gaetz and State Senator Doug Broxson.
The award recipients were:
A.K. Suter Elementary – Joseph Thomason
Bellview Elementary – Rebecca Dortch
Bellview Middle – Tex Jones
Beulah Elementary – Ashton Young
Beulah Middle – Jacob Botsford
Blue Angels Elementary – Morgan “Brinlee” Bennett
Bratt Elementary – Reece Starns
Brentwood Elementary – Alisha Straughn
Brown Barge Middle – Gary Lee, Jr.
Byrneville Elementary – Emily Carter
Camelot Academy – Linda Bruster
Cordova Park Elementary – Lula Wilson
Ensley Elementary – Alexander Patrick
Ernest Ward Middle – Olivia Bush
Escambia High – Bethaney Griffin
Ferry Pass Elementary – Alexa Mendoza
Ferry Pass Middle – Cele Leigh Hernandez Mendoza
Global Learning Academy – Gabriel Johnson
Hellen Caro Elementary – Sarah Stearns
Holm Elementary – Jai’Juan “JJ” McBride
Jim Allen Elementary – Coy Jenkins
Jim Bailey Middle – Roy Pettaway
Kingsfield Elementary – Leonardo “Leo” Rincon
Lakeview Day Support – Aine Kellett
Lincoln Park Primary – Jamarcus McKay
Lipscomb Elementary – Ronan Potter
Longleaf Elementary – Diamond Jenkins
McArthur Elementary – James Silvestre
Molino Park Elementary – Aryanna Smith
Montclair Elementary – Makiyah McMillian
Myrtle Grove Elementary – Eric Dennard
N.B. Cook Elementary – Ava Nelson
Navy Point Elementary – Ariana Seymour
Northview High – Cade Allen
O.J. Semmes Elementary – Connor Roper
Oakcrest Elementary – Nick Spencer
PACE Center for Girls – Eve Warnock
Pensacola High – Lakeisha King
Pine Forest High – Christopher “Chris” Bush
Pine Meadow Elementary – Nicolas Fayard
Pleasant Grove Elementary – Shyla Williams
Ransom Middle – Mia Portis
Scenic Heights Elementary – Zameena Harper
Sherwood Elementary – Nathan Horn
Tate High – Ezekiel “Zeke” Goodwin
Warrington Elementary – Kamoni Brown
Warrington Middle – Kaleb Hart
Washington High – Jaelen Moorer
Weis Elementary – Alishia Anderson
West Florida High – Chris Lee
West Pensacola Elementary – Zachary Krusen
Workman Middle – Jorge Gomez
License, ID Card, Title And Registration Services Unavailable Until Monday
May 10, 2019
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) is performing a statewide database upgrade, according to Escambia County Tax Collector Scott Lunsford. All driver’s license, vehicle and vessel titling and registration systems both in the person and online will be impacted and unavailable until Monday, May 13.
“We anticipate the impact to our systems could begin in the early afternoon on Friday, May 10,” Lunsford said. “The DHSMV hopes to have the systems restored by the time we open our offices on Monday, May 13.”
Driving test appointments will continue throughout the outage; however, a license cannot be issued if the system is offline. This will impact all DHSMV and tax collector offices and online transactions statewide for driver license, identification cards and title and registration services.
All other tax collector services, such as property tax, business tax receipts, concealed weapon intake, Florida birth certificate and hunting and fishing licensing, will not be impacted, Lunsford said.
EMS Report Finds North Escambia Problem, Commission Discusses Solutions
May 10, 2019
An ombudsman report on Escambia County Public Safety found an issue with ambulance service in part of the North Escambia area, and that led commissioners to discuss future funding during a Thursday meeting.
As part of her findings, Janice Kilgore told commissioners that there is often a coverage problem because ambulances are pulled away to calls further south in the county.
Kilgore said that if, for instance, the ambulance stationed in Century transports a patient to a Pensacola hospital, they may get diverted to calls in the south end of the county before they make it back to Century.
“They get stuck here, now they are the closest unit to that call maybe out on Nine Mile Road. So it takes a while for them to get back in the area, so that has a coverage problem in the north end ,” she told the commission.
District 5 Commissioner Barry said he has discussed the issue with several North Escambia volunteer fire chiefs and understands the issue will need discussion and attention in the upcoming budget.
“We get one (ambulance) down here, and it gets stuck down here. And then if there’s a call made, there’s not another one within a number of miles,” Barry said. “The utilization of the assets does need some attention up there.”
“I totally respect what you are saying there that the citizens in your district and the north part of Jeff’s (Bergosh), they are not getting the services that they are paying for,” Commissioner Doug Underhill said. “And I will be cognizant of that as we run through the budget cycle.”
Barry said that the volunteer fire service is his District 5 are “relatively healthy”.
“The citizens are being covered. It’s that we haven’t had a tremendous amount of the new employee staff or the new career firefighters have not been deployed in those stations,” Barry said. “But we still do have healthy volunteers, and it’s a fantastic asset to the entire county in my opinion having those volunteers in a number of the stations.”
Commissioner said a plan is in the works to build a new Beulah fire station in District 1.
“I just want the citizens out there to know that you do have dedicated fire coverage out there,” Bergosh said. “It’s all volunteer, Station 2. And God bless those men that volunteer their time.” In addition, he said the area receives assistance from neighboring fire stations.
“There’s coverage out there. Is there things we need to do to fix it and make it better? Absolutely,” Begosh added. “For my vote it’s not going to be a knee jerk, let’s raise tax rates on existing property owners until we extinguish every other possibility, including being creative and combining EMS with Fire together and looking at all revenue sources including capital purchases and making those with the intelligent funding source which is Local Options Sales Tax, not EMS reserves….I’m not going to raise people’s tax rates.”
Thursday’s discussion was part of a larger EMS report presented to the commission. Click here for a previous story.
Pictured: An Escambia County EMS ambulance at the Walnut Hill Fire Station. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Remains Of Missing WWII Pilot Returned Home (With Photo Gallery)
May 10, 2019
The recently identified remains of Army pilot killed in World War II were returned to Pensacola Thursday afternoon on their way to a proper burial.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Walter B. Stone of Andalusia, AL, was killed in 1943. Several of his relatives reside in North Escambia.
His remains were flown into the Pensacola International Airport on Thursday and escorted to his hometown for a funeral service on Saturday.
In October 1943, Stone served as a pilot in the 350th Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, VIII U.S. Fighter Command. On Oct. 22, 1943, Stone was killed when his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed in northern France during a bomber escort mission. Because France was enemy-occupied territory at the time of the crash, search and recovery operations were not possible.
In 1990, a French excavation group, called Association Maurice Choron (AMC,) carried out a limited excavation of the site in the forest near La Wattine, France, where Stone was believed to have crashed. Aircraft wreckage that matched Stone’s aircraft was located and a field investigation was recommended.
In April and May 2017, a DPAA Recovery Team excavated a site based on information from a local resident. During the excavation, an identification tag for Stone was located, as well as remains. The remains were sent to the laboratory for identification.
In 2018, in a contract with the University of Wisconsin, the site excavation was completed, with additional remains consolidated with the previously located remains. He was officially accounted for on February 20, 2019.
Funeral services for the veteran will take place Saturday at Pleasant Home Baptist Church in Andalusia, Alabama.
Pictured: The remains of WWII Army pilot Lt. Walter B. Stone arrived at the Pensacola International Airport Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Unsettled Wet Weather Continues
May 10, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 83. Southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. North wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.
Rotary Academic All-Stars Named
May 10, 2019
The Atmore Rotary Club recognized 146 area high school students as Academic All-Stars Thursday night.
The Academic All-Star program is open to students who attend Northview High School, Atmore Christian School, Escambia County High School or Escambia Academy. To be named an Academic All-Star, a student must have maintained at least a B average in every subject for each grading period of the school year, with at least one A for each grading period.
Those who have maintained this status from the 9th through the 12th grades, were honored as Four-Year Academic All-Stars and received a scholarship. The program excludes Northview students that are full-time dual enrolled.
Those honored as Atmore Rotary Club Academic All Stars were:
(Four-Year Academic All-Stars are denoted with an asterisk.)
Northview High School
9th Grade
Anna Faith Adams
John Blake Bashore
Lakyn Makenna Bodiford
Hunter Shane Borelli
Nevaeh Skye Brown
Tereasia Siamone Burt
Shelby Nicole Cotita
Olivia Elizabeth Crews
Miyhanna Patrice Davidson
Weslyn Elizabeth Dunn
Kaitlin Hope Gafford
Jason Zane Gurganus
Grayson Elizabeth James
Ethan Riley Kilburn
Taylor Lynn Levins
Kileigh Rai Lundy
Taylor Elaine McMinn
Logan Christopher Misenar
Makayla Shana Ramsey
Benjamin Charles Rowinsky
Sarah Jane Sconiers
Mia Rain Starns
10th Grade
Maggie Lauren Amerson
Hailie Marie Anderson
Naudia Briana-Nicole Carach
Staci Brianna Colter
Sophia Danielle Cotita
Savannah Corrinn Doremus
Alexis Madison Fleming
Amber Marie Gilman
Leia Madison Grantham
Hailey Nicole Harigel
Hannah Elizabeth Hughes
Rylee Evan Huskey
Maille Viola Kilcrease
Heather Lashea Knowles
Bryce Garrett Korinchak
David Allen Lamb
Abigail Lynn Levins
Meredith McKinley McGhee
Mary Paige Nassar
Abigail Elise Nelson
Libby Shay Pugh
Jalexis Sy’Rai Robinson
Michael Jerome Sanders
Madelin Michael Sheedy
Emily Grace Stabler
Summer Marie Waters
Autumn Hope Williams
William Lane Wilson
11th Grade
Addison Claire Albritton
William Milton Beach
Emily Grace Boutwell
Kelley Elizabeth Bradley
Keaton Adam Brown
Logan Alexander Brown
Lacie Elizabeth Carter
Karlee’ Nicole Criswell
Jason Nikijha Fayard
Jordan Skylar Godwin
Ragan Nicole Lassiter
Ansleigh Marie Maholovich
Kayla Marie McKillion
Kelli Shania Merchant
Charleigh Elaine Parham
Brianna Elizabeth Pugh
Kinzie Brooke Rackard
Samantha Lynn Sasser
Cloe Madison Smith
Savannah Nicole Steadham
Elana Marie Ward
Chunqi Yang
12th Grade
Austin Joshua Adams
Justin Alan Cruce
Rebecca Nicole Dunn
Dalton Dewayne Hamilton *
Keegun Patrick Johnston
Seth Hammac Killam *
Gabrielle Faith Nicole Kline
Margaret Alexander Lane
Aubree Grace Love
Jessie Hayden McCall
Lance Taylor McLaughlin
Olivia Grace Porter
Madison Alyssa Sherouse
Travis Lee Sutton
Aaliyah Raquel Tucker
Atmore Christian School
9th Grade
Caeden Battles
10th Grade
Micah Mast
Emma Overstreet
Megan Wilson
11th Grade
Lylia Albritton
Jace Weber
12th Grade
Kyle Hostetler *
Escambia Academy
9th Grade
Brady Howell
Christopher Long
10th Grade
Daughtry McGhee
Avery Mims
Disha Patel
11th Grade
Chase Bell
Anna Ruth Smith
Gaines Tanner
12th Grade
Kaile Gumapac
Lexie Hollinger *
Mary Thompson Lancaster *
Kiah Parker
Sara Rolin
Emma Caroline Sasser
Escambia County High School
9th Grade
Taniyah Etheridge
TyQueria Evans
Zakiyyah Ford
Racquel Knight
Vanaja McCants
Rachel Redmond
Aniyah Stots
Sheldon Williams
Jykeria Wilson
10th Grade
Destiny Brown
Nadija Graves
Jamarcus Leslie
Breanna McGowan
Madison Simmons
Mia Simmons
11th Grade
Jada Johnson
Kayley Johnson
Divyaben Patel
Amber Phillips
Joshua Richardson
Kylee Stancil
Brenna Watson
Ladarious Wilson
12th Grade
Khalil Askew
Cortez Finklea
Deondre Freeman
Darrica James
Christiara Jones *
Anaya Montgomery
Darriona Nichols
Latrice Pryear
Jasmine Rivers
Johnika Roberts *
Mardaizah Salter
Arianna Silar
Olivia Simmons *
Adonis Williams *
Luerensley Williams
Spring Football Games Tonight At Tate; Saturday Night At Northview
May 10, 2019
Spring football game are tonight at Tate High School and Saturday night at Northview High School.
Tate Aggies
The annual Tate Aggies Crimson/Grey Spring Football Game will be Friday night at 7:00 with free admission.
Fish plates will be $8, and hot dogs plates will be available for $5. Cash and credit cards will be accepted.
Northview Chiefs
The Northview Chiefs annual Garnet and Gold Game will be Saturday evening at 6:00 with free admission.
The concession stand will be open during the game.