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Mother And Daughter Sentenced For Machete Attack

An Escambia County mother and daughter have been sentenced to after the mother told  her daughter to attack two people with a machete last October.

Candie Walker was sentenced to 55 years in state prison for solicitation to commit first degree premeditated murder and principal to attempted first degree premeditated murder. Walker’s daughter, Hannah Fine, was sentenced to 15.5 years in state prison for attempted first degree premeditated or felony murder with a weapon, aggravated battery with great bodily harm/deadly weapon, and burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery.

Deshawn Donson entered a plea to one count of accessory after the fact to a felony and also testified against Walker.  He was sentenced on as a youthful offender to 40 months of probation with the condition that he serve 15 months in state prison.

Eric Moorer entered a plea to one count of principal to aggravated battery.  He was sentenced as an adult to a year and a day in state prison, followed by two years of community control (house arrest), followed by one year of probation.

Joanna Hires entered a plea oo one count of extortion.  She was sentenced to 36 months of probation with the condition that she serve 200 days in the county jail.

Sometime during August or September of 2018, Walker devised a plan to kill Jessica Cline, the girlfriend of her estranged husband, Mark Walker.  The marriage had been troubled for years, and friends and family members testified that Walker harbored a great deal of animosity for Jessica Cline.  Walker solicited Brandon Manley, a friend of her 16-year old daughter, to purchase a gun to shoot and kill Cline, and evidence at trial showed she had also purchased bullets to be used in the murder.  Manley did not execute the plan and was ultimately cut off from contacting Fine or returning to their home.

Over the course of several weeks, Fube testified that her mother continued to persist with her and her other friends to commit the murder of Jessica Cline. Donson, age 15 and a friend of Fine, was aware of the situation, testified that Walker was continuing to encourage this act, and he was with Fine on the night of the attack, October 18. Walker had given Fine a deadline of October 18, and since Fine did not have a gun or other plan Donson suggested the use of a machete.  Moorer, age 15 and a friend of Donson, had a machete and provided it to Fine.  Donson and Moorer accompanied Fine to the victim’s neighborhood where she left them in the car and set out to the victim’s house on foot to perpetrate the attack.  Fine testified that she thought about not going through with it and as she stood on the front porch of Cline’s home debated about what to do when Cline came out of the house unexpectedly and startled her.  Fine testified that she reacted by striking Cline with the machete and continued to strike Cline until Cline’s 12 year old daughter intervened.  Both Cline and her daughter suffered grievous injuries.  Cline was able to identify her attacker as Fine.  After her arrest, Fine told law enforcement about her mother pressuring her to commit the crime and her mother’s earlier efforts to solicit Brandon Manley to kill Cline.

After her arrest, Walker contacted Hires from jail and asked her to approach Brandon Manley about changing his story; consequently, Hire was charged with extortion.  As part of her cooperation with the State, Hires provided a number of letters written by Walker in which she encouraged the extortion and made admissions indicating she knew what Fine was going to do on the night of October 18.