Teen killer of child molester to be resentenced 22 years later

July 2017 Florida:

U.S. Supreme Court rulings that juveniles can't be sentenced to life without parole has given a Florida man in prison for a 1995 murder of a suspected child molester a chance at freedom, WFTV in Orlando reports.

Mark Berrios was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting Olen Hepler, 47, a suspected pedophile, when he was 14. He stole Hepler's truck and $800.

Margaret Loring told Action News Jax that her son met Hepler when he ran away from a juvenile program in Daytona Beach, becoming the victim of abuse. "My son grabbed the molester's gun and shot him," she said.

Loring said Hepler was a pedophile who preyed on troubled boys. She said her son felt there was no way out.

SWAT standoff sparked by donut fight ends with deputy shot, sex offender dead & suspect arrested

3-15-17 Florida:

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A SWAT standoff in unincorporated Pinellas County has ended with a deputy shot and a sex offender dead.

Pinellas County deputies responded to a home located in the 5100 block of 80 Way N. on Wednesday morning.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Susan DiFabbio called police Wednesday morning after an argument with her son, 24-year-old Jeffrey Falsey.

"What triggered it this morning was Falsey wanted his mom to go get donuts and she wouldn't do that," said Gualtieri.

DiFabbio called police after a heated argument with Falsey because she refused to get him donuts

St. Lucie County detectives vet more than 150 fair workers, arrest two and find one sex offender

2-23-17 Florida:

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. -- The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office announced it has vetted more than 150 carnival workers at the St. Lucie County fair, set to begin Friday.

Detectives made sure anyone with an outstanding warrant or sex offender status was removed from the fairgrounds before floods of visitors arrive.

“We get a list of all the employees out at the fairgrounds when the fair comes to town. Our detectives vet all of those people,” said St. Lucie County Chief Deputy Garry Wilson.

More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the 10-day fair.

General Manager Jeanne Keaton says there are also hundreds of children who attend with various organizations volunteering, and working alongside livestock.

Former professor’s sexual advances brutally rejected, detectives say

1-15-17 Florida:

Manatee, Fla. Former college professor Hollant Maxford Adrien was acquainted with the 20-year-old man who detectives say rejected his sexual advances in a brutal attack, stabbing and then beating him to death with a hammer.

Barry Joshua Baer of Bradenton told detectives Friday, that Adrien, 56, had picked him up and driven him to the area of the intersection of 58th Avenue East and 21st Street East, a dead end in an industrial park, where Adrien’s body was later found, according to an arrest report.

“Baer stated that victim began to make sexual advances, which Baer rejected,” Manatee County Detective Ben Main, lead homicide investigator in the case, wrote in his report.

It was then when Baer said he took out a knife that he regularly carried for protection and stabbed Adrien in the neck. A physical struggle began outside of the vehicle, and Baer grabbed a hammer and struck Adrien 40 to 45 times in the head, the report said.

Sex offender killed in Westside double shooting

12-15-16 Florida:

A man killed in last week’s double shooting on Jacksonville’s Westside was a registered sex offender.

Police identified the man Monday as Anthony Dawayne Hall. Hall, 36, died of his injuries at UF Health Jacksonville after he and a second man were shot at the Cooper Lane Apartments off Jammes Road about 3 a.m. Dec. 15, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Corrections records show Hall was previously convicted in Orange County of sexual battery back in April 2005.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS. ..Source.. by Garrett Pelican

Cops: Man killed by deputy had been acting erratically

12-7-2016 Florida:

A Leesburg man was acting erratically before he beat a Lake County deputy sheriff with a boat oar during a confrontation in Lake Griffin, prompting the lawman to kill him, a sheriff's official said Wednesday.

The man killed Tuesday was identified as Wayne Donald Dorsey, 49, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Dorsey first ran into a car and then rammed into the Citgo gas station at 4075 Picciola Road before taking off on foot and attempting to carjack another vehicle with a person inside, Sgt. Fred Jones said.

The deputy, who has been with the Lake Sheriff's Office for about 12 years, was placed on paid administrative leave.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting, Jones said.

The deputy was not immediately identified.

Sex offender's death could cost Brevard County taxpayers

9-29-2016 Florida:

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - 9 Investigates found out a sex offender in custody at the Brevard County jail could end up costing taxpayers in a lawsuit.

The inmate was rushed to the hospital just weeks before he was set to go to trial for a probation violation.

Investigative reporter Karla Ray tracked down records that could support his family's claims that the symptoms which killed him went untreated.

Charles Jones was convicted of sexual battery against a minor 20 years ago. Jones failed to re-register his address, and that’s what put him back in jail for the last year.

“I'm gonna miss him. His kids gonna miss him,” said brother, Curtis Jones as he began to cry.

The charges against Charles Jones were dismissed in August. He died August 28. Hours earlier he was complaining of severe stomach pain, according to an incident report.

“His bowels had burst. And when his bowels burst, it spread the infection through his blood stream,” said Curtis Jones.

'I snapped,' says killer accused of slaying child-rapist cellmate

7-21-2016 Florida:

A man already serving time in prison for murder has been charged with the crime again after killing his cellmate, a rapist, for inappropriately touching him, officials said.

Sheddrick Bentley was scheduled Tuesday to be arraigned in Volusia County on Aug. 4 on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Hans Christian Anderson, court records show.

Anderson, 58, died of ligature strangulation — a sock was found around his neck — and blunt force injury to his abdomen Feb. 17 at Tomoka Correctional Institution near Daytona Beach, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement charging affidavit.

Prison officials confirmed Feb. 18 that Anderson, serving a 25-year sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl, had been killed by another inmate, but they wouldn't release the suspect's name or details of the death.

Bentley asked corrections officers to put him in handcuffs Feb. 17, and when the officers asked why, the 38-year-old said, "I did it, he made me do it," according to the affidavit filed July 12. Officers found Anderson lying face down on the floor of the cell he shared with Bentley.

Bentley told investigators that Anderson was trying to "mess" with him, according to the affidavit.

"Did he physically touch you or was he talking to you to see if you wanted to?" Bentley was asked, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Bentley then shouted that Anderson had grabbed Bentley's genitals while Bentley was sleeping.

"He never done that (expletive) before. I snapped," Bentley told investigators. He also said he was unaware of why Anderson was incarcerated.

Anderson brutally beat and raped a teen in 1998 in the basement of a church in Pinellas County, according to records.

Bentley is serving time in prison for second-degree murder, burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft auto and false information to a pawnbroker, records show. The crimes were committed in Collier County. ..Source.. by Katie Kustura

Child rapist killed in suspected inmate attack

11-8-2015 Florida:

A St. Johns County man serving a 45-year sentence for the rape of his girlfriend’s daughters was killed by a fellow inmate at Jefferson Correctional Institution Wednesday, authorities told Record news partner First Coast News.

William Clarence Dillow, 29, died Wednesday morning at the Monticello prison and the case is being investigated as an inmate homicide. The state Department of Corrections did not provide other details about the death.

Dillow was convicted of child molestation and sexual battery by threat in St. Johns County in 2014 for the rape of his girlfriend’s preteen daughters. He was sentenced in April.

Dillow and his girlfriend Rhonda Lynn Wilkerson, 50, were arrested after the victims told staffers at a Flagler County School about the attacks.

The children were under the age of 12 when the abuse began. Wilkerson was arrested on one county of sexual battery on a person 12 to 18 and sexual battery by threat. ..Source.. by Dana Treen

Detectives investigate murder of registered sex offender

2-2-14 Florida:

Lake County detectives have determined a possible suspect in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old sex offender that happened in Groveland early Saturday, deputies reported.

Detectives say the victim, Justin Russell, got into an argument with 18-year-old Travis L. Miller early Saturday morning. The argument ended with Miller opening fire and fatally shooting Russell.

Around 2:30 a.m., deputies responded to a call about the shooting in the 15700 block of Stuckey Loop in Groveland.

By the time they got to the scene, Russell was being treated for a gunshot wound by EMS personnel, an incident report said.

Two dead in apparent murder-suicide at group home in Amelia Island

Note: The RSO was murdered by a non RSO who then committed suicide.

5-20-15 Florida:

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Two men are dead after an apparent murder-suicide at a group home in Amelia Island.

The Nassau County sheriff says Ken Supernor Sr. shot and killed Paul Auld, a registered sexual predator, then turned the gun on himself.

Neighbors there were already concerned about living next to the house, which operated as a halfway house for recovering addicts and criminals.

The halfway house in the middle of a heated zoning debate is now at the center of a murder-suicide investigation.

“Shocked that I wasn’t aware enough to recognize these people with this kind of behavior,” said Kathy Lynn Hamby, who lives at the home.

“We never would have any thought like this,” said Christopher Collins who also lives at the home.

Officials: Sexual battery suspect shot, killed by officers in Lakeland

2-26-2015 Florida:

LAKELAND -- An armed man was shot and killed by Lakeland police officers Thursday evening, officials said.

David Cuevas, 42, was shot and killed in front of the Starbucks and Five Guys Burgers and Fries located on Socrum Loop Road, according to Lakeland Police Sgt. Gary Gross.

Gross said Cuevas was suspected in an armed sexual battery and armed kidnapping involving his ex-girlfriend.

The events that led to Cuevas' shooting began in January, when police responded to the Suburban Extended Stay motel on Williamstown Boulevard regarding a disturbance.

Police spoke to Cuevas' ex-girlfriend, who said she had been raped at gunpoint by Cuevas. The woman said she and Cuevas met in Philadelphia and began dating for a year before moving to Lakeland in December 2014. At the end of the month, the woman and Cuevas broke up and he left town.

On Jan. 25, Cuevas returned to Lakeland, and on the following day, met his ex-girlfriend at the hotel room. Police said Cuevas told her he had a gift for her, then pulled out a handgun and a knife and sexually battered the woman.

Anita Smithey murder trial: Jury selection underway for woman who says she killed rapist

11-10-2014 Florida:

Jury selection is underway this afternoon for Anita Smithey, an Oviedo woman accused of murdering her estranged husband, a man she says she shot while he was raping her.

Smithey, 46, is charged with second-degree murder. She's accused of killing Robert Cline III, May 4, 2010. She says she shot him in self-defense while he was raping her in her bed. He had put a knife to her throat, she said, and punched her.

But prosecutors say there was no rape. They contend the couple was having consensual sex, that Smithey got tired then angry when Cline would not go home, so she shot him twice.

Although Smithey had moved out three months before, the couple still got together on Monday nights for sex, she told Oviedo police. Cline was shot in the early morning hours of a Tuesday, a few hours after he had come over to her house with a bottle on tequila.

Forty potential jurors were called to the courtroom this morning. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. and attorneys need a panel of six.

Eyewitnesses scarce in Williams murder case

9-17-2014 Florida:

The 46-year-old Eastpoint man charged in the bludgeoning death May 10 of a known sexual predator has said he doesn’t recall striking the victim with an axe handle, and so far there are few individuals at the scene that night willing to come forward to say he did.

Bobby J. Bullock, Jr. faces second degree murder charges in the death of Norman Bill Williams, 59, which police say took place sometime before 8:30 p.m. at a house on Washington Street.

An autopsy report from Dr. Lisa M. Flannagan, with the medical examiner’s office, said she found “blunt force trauma and hemorrhage. It appears that (Williams) was struck by a very significant impact near the base of the skull near left ear. The source of hemorrhage in this area is often difficult to locate.”

Bullock was in court last week on an unrelated felony charge of child abuse dating back to Sept. 2013. Nan Weaver, spokeswoman for the Office of Criminal Conflict & Civil Regional Counsel for the First District Court of Appeals Region, said Bullock’s attorney, Thomas Cassidy, from Port St. Joe, had sought a plea agreement to reduce the charge to misdemeanor domestic battery, with the punishment time served of about nine months.

Dade Correctional back in spotlight after inmate strangling

8-4-2014 Florida:

Prison protocol dictates that inmates be isolated when they express fear for their lives, at least until their complaints can be evaluated

MIAMI — An inmate at Dade Correctional Institution who pleaded to be transferred because he feared he would be killed by his cellmate was found strangled in his cell Monday, allegedly by that same cellmate.

It was the latest in a series of problems at the prison compound south of Homestead, which saw its warden fired last month amid reports of persistent management problems. Those problems ranged from filthy conditions in the food preparation area to unexplained deaths that are now under investigation to allegations that mentally ill inmates were deprived of food, taunted and sexually abused by staff and forced to fight each other for the entertainment of guards....

Prison protocol dictates that inmates be isolated when they express fear for their lives, at least until their complaints can be evaluated. According to multiple sources, that was not done in the case of Lavar Valentin, 35, a slightly built convict who remained in a cell with his alleged tormentor, Eduardo Carmenates-Zayas, now suspected of strangling him.

After day-long search, suspected rapist Charlie Christopher 'Chris' Bates shot to death in shootout

9-6-2013 Florida:

Suspected rapist Charlie Christopher 'Chris' Bates was shot and killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers Friday afternoon, after several agencies went door-to-door in a day-long search for him.

The hunt for Bates, 24, ended dramatically, shortly after he was spotted driving near Greco High School in Temple Terrace. Officers attempted to stop him near U.S. 301 at Harney Road and Temple Terrace Hwy., but he fired a gun through the back window at the officers.

They continued pursuit south on U.S. 301 and an officer sped up to perform what they called a PIT maneuver, or bump him from behind. Bates lost control of the car on the second collision, and ended up in a ditch just south of Interstate 4.

Officers closed in, including Tampa Police, Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies, and the U.S. Marshals task force. The suspect began shooting through the windshield at no less than seven officers, who protected themselves with ballistic shields.

Officers returned fire, wounding the suspect, and they were able to remove the suspect from the vehicle.

The suspect died at 1:21 after receiving medical care.

No officers were injured in the exchange.

Bates was on the run after a series of home invasions near USF late Thursday night and early Friday morning. Officials said Bates fired shots, raped four women, and forced some 20 people at a birthday party into a bedroom.

Cops: Eastpoint man bludgeons to death sexual predator

5-13-2014 Florida:

APALACHICOLA - 46-year-old Eastpoint man has been charged in the beating death Saturday night of a notorious sexual predator who attracted nationwide attention in 2011 when he fled the county after being released from state prison to fend for himself in the woods.

Bobby J. Bullock, Jr., 46, Eastpoint, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he turned himself in to the sheriff’s office following the confrontation with Norman Bill Williams, 59, which took place sometime before 8:30 p.m. on 23 Washington Street.

Capt. Chester Creamer said second degree murder charges are pending because Dr. Lisa M. Flannagan, with the medical examiner’s office, has requested the opinion of a second pathologist regarding the blunt trauma wounds to the neck that felled Williams.

Creamer said several people, many of whom were intoxicated, witnessed the violent incident but are reluctant to come forward to police. “Few people want to talk about it,” he said.

Police fatally shoot man accused of trying to rape, rob woman

5-7-2014 Florida:

SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. — Police said they shot and killed a man who was allegedly trying to rob and rape a woman inside a Volusia County tanning salon Tuesday night.

Police said officers from both the South Daytona and Daytona Beach police departments responded to a holdup alarm at Hot Tans on Beville Road near Nova Road.

Investigators said 27-year-old Cheyne Pinkney locked himself and a Hot Tans employee inside the salon Tuesday.

Officers said they believe he tried to rape and rob her.

"(I) kind of looked out and saw these cop cars coming. And they just kept coming. There was like 50 of them," said witness Janelle Lugo.

According to police, the woman was able to set off the alarm the brought officers to the business.

Officers involved in deaths of suspects return to duty

3-1-2014 Florida:

Law enforcement officers involved in three separate violent confrontations in January have been placed back on duty while state investigations of the incidents continue.

Eustis police said detective Gary Winheim, who shot to death an armed man on Jan. 7, returned to work on Jan. 16 after the department’s command staff and a representative from the State Attorney’s Office met with Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators.

“The evidence clearly indicated the use of force was warranted under the circumstances presented,” Police Chief Fred Cobb said on Thursday.

FDLE will turn over the results of its investigations to the State Attorney’s Office, which will determine if any charges will be filed in the cases. A FDLE spokeswoman said Thursday that none of the three investigations has been completed, so they can’t comment on any of them.

The shooting occurred at Laurel Oaks Apartments in Leesburg. Three detectives from the Leesburg and Eustis Police departments, including Winheim, went to the complex and met with 47-year-old Vernum Blunk to talk about allegations of sexual misconduct with a child and possession of child pornography. Police said at some point during the investigation, Blunk armed himself with a handgun that had been concealed in the room and threatened the Eustis detective.

Man shot by officer died of fall at Tampa airport, official says

10-29-2013 Florida:

A man who was shot by a Tampa International Airport police officer died from the impact of the fall after he jumped from the fourth-story of a parking garage Monday afternoon.

Allen Piano died from blunt impact from the fall, said Dick Bailey, a Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesman.

Airport police Officer Jason Virt shot at Piano but hit him only once in the upper body. That wound was not lethal, Bailey said.

The investigation hasn’t revealed the manner of Piano’s death, whether it was an accident or suicide, Bailey said.

Piano, 47, of 3172 Cypress Green Drive, Palm Harbor, was on sex-offender probation and faced imminent arrest when he was confronted by Virt, authorities said Tuesday.

Piano was sentenced to sex-offender probation two months ago in St. Lucie County on a 2010 charge of providing obscene material to a minor. The probationary period was for 10 years, Florida Department of Corrections records show, and he is listed in the state’s sex-offender database.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Misty Cash said Piano violated his probation by moving without notifying his probation officer.