Molino Man Charged With Battery Of Family Members, Fleeing From Deputies
January 24, 2020
A Molino man is facing multiple charges for the alleged battery of two family members before fleeing from pursuing deputies.
Aquinas DeMarcus Brown, 58, was charged with two counts of battery second or subsequent offense, felony fleeing, resisting an officer without violence, failure to register a motor vehicle and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
The victim met Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies near her home and stated that her husband of 28 years walked in “extremely intoxicated and high on drugs”, according to an arrest report. He allegedly pushed her and began punching the son in an altercation that resulted in the destruction of several household items.
As deputies headed toward the home, they were passed by Brown in a 2006 Lincoln LS. Deputies turned around and activated their lights, but Brown refused to stop. With lights and sirens, deputies followed Brown south on Highway 95A from Richardson Road, to Welcome Road and to the home of relative on Welcome Circle. The total length of the pursuit was 3.4 miles.
Brown refused to comply with verbal commands and would not exit his vehicle, the report states, and he was extremely angry with slurred speech. Brown was “assisted out of his vehicle and onto the ground”, according to the arrest report.
Brown was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $16,750 bond.
Ensley Woman Charged With Murder Of 16-Year Old
January 24, 2020
UPDATE: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office says they have located Andrew Nathaniel Manning. He is no longer wanted for questioning in the case.
An Ensley woman is facing a long list of charges in connection for shooting death of a 16-year old.
Kristian Nealy Ard, 18, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, grand theft of a firearm, possession of cocaine with the intent to sell, manufacture and/or deliver, possession of a hallucinogen with the intent to sell, manufacture and/or deliver (three counts), possession of marijuana with the intent to sell, manufacture and/or deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, giving false information to law enforcement, evidence tampering (three counts), and contributing to the delinquency and/or dependency of a minor.
Deputies responded to a shooting in the 9700 block of Grace Drive on December 18 where the the 16-year old was found shot. The victim was pronounced deceased on December 28 after he was removed from life support at Sacred Heart Hospital.
The ECSO executed a search warrant at the home and multiple items were recovered including ammunition and bloody Clorox wipes that were found in the trash. Crime scene techs noted that several bloodstains at the scene had smear marks indicating an attempt to clean part of the scene. In Ard’s car, the ECSO recovered ammunition, narcotics, drug paraphernalia, counterfeit money and a stolen pistol the ECSO says was used in the shooting.
Ard remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $680,000.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Century To Use Local Option Sales Tax Funds For Debt Service, Including Past Due Loan Payments
January 24, 2020
The Town of Century will use Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds to help with their debt service — including past due loan payments — and free up cash for other uses.
The LOST provides discretionary funding for local governments in Escambia County for infrastructure projects that have a life longer than five years.
For example, Escambia County has used LOST funds for law enforcement, fire and public safety facilities and equipment, transportation and drainage improvements, infrastructure projects, public facilities,recreation and natural resources, jail and court facilities, Growth Management Act mandates, capital equipment community services, and economic development projects. The Escambia County School District has used LOST funds to fund the construction of new schools (such as the new Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill), renovations, additions to existing schools, land acquisition and improvements, and school technology. In the past, Century’s use of LOST funds has including street paving.
Century currently has just under a $1 million in available LOST funds, according to accountant Robert Hudson. The town council approved his request to use LOST funds as follows:
- $96,249 total for three loan payments, including two past due, for a 2014 gas line relocation project
- between $95,000 and $98,000 for water bond debt service
- about $25,000 in payments to the state revolving loan fund for the water department
“How did we get behind like that?” council member Luis Gomez asked about the past due gas project loan payments.
“Gas has no money,” Hudson responded.
Hudson said the town collects about $250,000 in LOST monies annually.
In the 2014 gas line project, natural gas pipes were relocated to the east and west sides of North Century Boulevard eliminating the need to install individual service lines under the road to service natural gas customers.
Pictured: A 2014 gas line relocation project begins in Century. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Santa Rosa County Resuming Recycling Under Agreement With ECUA
January 24, 2020
Santa Rosa County is resuming its recycling program under an agreement with the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority.
The Santa Rosa County recycling program was suspended in April 2019 because their level of contaminants was too high for the ECUA Materials Recycling Facility at the Perdido Landfill in Escambia County.
Santa Rosa County staff will be taking extra steps to ensure collected recyclables are not contaminated with non-recyclable garbage. Due to the high volume of contaminants collected when the county previously participated in recycling, staff will visually inspect each load of recyclable materials during first weeks to ensure it will be accepted by ECUA’s processing facility.
Santa Rosa County residents are encouraged to get back to the basics and focus on only placing the following items in their curbside recycling bin:
- Clean cardboard (no newspaper)
- Clean and dry aluminum and steel cans (no pet food cans due to the plastic liner)
- Clean and dry plastic bottles and jugs
“We realize people may have relaxed their recycling habits over the last year so we are asking residents to get back to the basics of recycling by simplifying what is collected to cardboard, aluminum and steel cans, and plastic bottles and jugs,” said Michael Schmidt, environmental director. “All items placed in the recycling bin must be clean and dry. Once we are confident the materials we receive are not contaminated, we will begin hauling recyclables to ECUA for processing.”
Each load of recyclables collected will be identified geographically. Neighborhoods generating unacceptable levels of contaminants in their recycling containers could be disqualified from the program. Non-recyclable garbage placed in recycling bins increases the cost of the recycling and could result in the termination of the recycling program for the entire county. Ensuring a quality product is delivered to ECUA’s processing facility is critical to the success of recycling, according to Santa Rosa officials.
Jim Allen Elementary Names Students Of The Month
January 24, 2020
Jim Allen Elementary School has named Students of the Month for December. They are Abigail Revels (pictured left) and Aisley Salisbury. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Two People Seriously Injured In Highway 97, Highway 29 Crash
January 23, 2020
Two people were seriously injured in a wreck Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 29 in Molino.
Both drivers were transported by Escambia County EMS as trauma alerts to Sacred Heart Hospital following the 1:15 p.m. crash.
Further details have not been released as the Florida Highway Patrol continues their investigation.
The Molino, Cantonment, McDavid and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to the two vehicle crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
FDOT To Study Widening Part Of I-10 To Six Lanes; Reconstructing Nine Mile, Pine Forest Interchanges
January 23, 2020
The Florida Department of Transportation is looking to widen I-10 from four to six lanes from near the Alabama state line to west of Highway 29 and reconstruct the interchanges at Nine Mile and Pine Forest roads as diverging diamond interchanges.
FDOT will hold a Project Development and Environment Study meeting on Tuesday, February 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Pine Forest United Methodist Church at 2800 Wilde Lake Boulevard. Maps, drawings and other information will be on display at the meeting. FDOT Representatives will be available to discuss the proposed improvements, answer questions, and receive comments.
This project is being developed concurrently with a separate study for the Beulah Road (County Road 99) interchange PD&E Study.
Escambia School Board Declares Feb. 22-29 National FFA Week
January 23, 2020
The Escambia County School Board passed a resolution this week designating the week of February 22-29, 2020, as National FFA Week. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Mother And Daughter Sentenced For Machete Attack
January 23, 2020
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.
Three Charged With Destroying Evidence In Recent Murder Case
January 23, 2020
Three people have been arrested in a shooting on January 19 in Escambia County.
Thomas Summerford, Ryan Kizer, and Lamar Bruno have been charged with destroying evidence in the shooting death of 20-year old Justis Walker in the 6000 block of Marie Avenue between Creighton and East Burgess roads.
The victim’s roommate arrived home to find the front door open and the victim dead on the floor suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Anyone with additional information about his murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433- STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Summerford was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $20,000. Bond for Bruno and Kizer was set at $25,000.