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A Grand Ridge woman faces sentencing Feb. 10 after a Jackson County jury found her guilty of drug and firearm charges this week, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Kayla Leanne Neel, 33, was found guilty of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Wednesday.
Kayla Leanne Neel
Prosecutors Lawrence Gill and Shalla Jefcoat called three witnesses and presented evidence showing that on June 8, 2020, Jackson County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant on a residence located in Grand Ridge.
Evidence presented at trial proved that the defendant was in possession of two loaded firearms, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia, all of which were located within the defendant’s bedroom.
The jury took about three and a half hours to reach its verdict.
The case was investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Circuit Court Judge Ana Maria Garcia set sentencing for Feb. 10.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan told jurors during his opening statement Thursday that Rodrick Sessions, shot in the mouth during an armed robbery two years ago, was lucky to be alive to testify.
After hearing testimony from Sessions and two Springfield Police Officers, those jurors took 1 hour and 20 minutes to find Mark Salmon guilty of Robbery With a Firearm and Attempted Manslaughter for his role in the robbery and shooting of Sessions on Feb. 22, 2020.
The defendant is one of three men charged in the case, and the first to go to trial. One co-defendant is accused of shooting Sessions, the other is accused of physically taking about $2,000 from him.
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan addresses the jury.
Salmon was also there, armed with a pistol, according to testimony. And though he did not fire the shot or physically take money from the victim, Sullivan explained to jurors that under Florida Law, anyone who participates in a crime is culpable for whatever happens during that crime.
“If you find Mark Salmon participated in any way, he is just as guilty,” Sullivan told jurors during his closing statements. “He is a principal to it and he’s just as guilty as the person who took the money.”
Sullivan, who prosecuted the case with co-counsel Jae Hee Kim, called three witnesses, beginning with the victim.
The defendant, seated with mask, was found guilty of Armed Robbery and Attempted Manslaughter.
Sessions told jurors that on the night he was robbed, he said, he was checking on his property at 3807 E. 6th St.
Sessions said he noticed flashlights in the RV parked there and then, “a dude came from behind the RV and stuck a long-barreled, like rifle, in my face.” Sessions said the man made it clear he knew he had money and he wanted it, and two other men appeared – one armed with a pistol-grip type rifle and the other with a handgun.
“They started asking, ‘Where the money at, where the money at? We know you got money,’” Sessions testified.
Sessions said he was trying to get it out of his pocket when the man with the rifle shot him, the bullet passing through his chin/lower lip. He said they forced him to the ground and told him not to look at their vehicle’s tag.
“That’s when I spit the teeth out and spit the bullet out,” he told jurors. He said after his money was taken, the men fled.
Evidence and testimony showed that Sessions had never met the men before, but when they were developed as suspects a couple of months later, he was able to identify all three of them from separate photo lineups presented by Springfield Police Sgt. James Choate.
The defendant, center, testifies as Prosecutors Frank Sullivan and Jae Hee Kim take notes.
Springfield Police Sgt. Jason Purdy testified that he took a taped statement from the defendant, and it was played in court for jurors.
The defendant also took the stand in his own defense, claiming he stayed in the car the whole time and had no idea what was happening outside. Sullivan pointed out the inconsistencies between that testimony, his original statement, and the evidence in his closing statements.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
MARIANNA – A Sneads man was given three life sentences plus 30 years in prison Thursday for sexually battering and abusing a young girl on multiple occasions, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Buckie O’Neil Barnes, 32, was found guilty as charged Nov. 30 after Jackson County Chief Prosecutor Shalla Jefcoat presented witnesses and evidence proving that Barnes had committed the crimes against a girl under the age of 12. The six charges were: two counts of Sexual Battery on a Person Less Than 12 Years of Age, and one count each of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation, Lewd or Lascivious Battery, Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition and Child Abuse.
Buckie Barns
At Thursday’s sentencing, Circuit Judge James Goodman handed down life sentences to Barnes on the first three offenses, and a combined 35 years in prison for the last three offenses. The sentences will run concurrently.
The victim revealed the abuse during the course of another case, and it was investigated by the Sneads Police Department and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.
State Attorney Larry Basford Thursday asked jurors to “use your good old common sense that got you
this far in life,” at the end of Ruez Hicks’ two-day trial for shooting and killing Robert Gilmore and
Robert Fowler after they caught him burglarizing a home they were restoring last year.
The 6-person jury took less than an hour to agree with the state’s case, finding Hicks guilty as charged of
two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of armed robbery and armed burglary. Circuit
Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set a March 8 sentencing date for the defendant, who is facing up to a
life sentence on each of the murder charges.
State Attorney Larry Basford addresses the jury.Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay listens as State Attorney Larry Basford (center, in blue suit jacket), Assistant State Attorney Jacob Cook (leaning in) and defense attorneys discuss a legal point.
“We have been here this week because Robert Keith Gilmore and Robert Shawn Fowler are not. The
reason they are not with us is because that man, the defendant, decided he would go into that house on
Delmar Drive looking for something to take,” Basford told jurors. “And when he was confronted by Mr.
Gilmore and Mr. Fowler, he ended up taking something much more valuable … he ended up taking their
very lives.”
Basford and Assistant State Attorney Jacob Cook presented evidence gathered by Bay County Sheriff’s
Office investigators as well as forensics evidence from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that
included DNA findings and testimony that the defendant’s gun fired the fatal shots.
The break in the case was the discovery by Sheriff’s Office investigators that someone had used a Cash
App card belonging to one of the victims after his death. Also key to the case were statements the
defendant made while being questioned by Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jason Daffin, who along with Inv.
Patrick Crawford drove him to the Sheriff’s Office for a formal interview after he was identified as a
suspect. By the end of those interviews, Hicks admitted he went into the home armed with a pistol
looking for something to steal, that the victims returned home unexpectedly and confronted him, and he
shot and killed them both and ripped a wallet from one victim’s back pocket.
“We finally got to the truth, that he went into that home looking for anything of value, money, tools, in
his own words: anything for some quick cash,” Basford said of the statements the defendant gave Daffin.
“Not only did the Bay County Sheriff’s Office do an excellent job investigating this case, they did an
excellent job in solving it.
“This is not a complicated case, there is no reasonable doubt that the man responsible for (the murders) is
before you,” Basford said. “This is not something Larry Basford and Jacob Cook, the prosecutors, made
up. The evidence in this case, the credible evidence, proves that the defendant is guilty of these four
crimes.”
FDLE expert Sarah Thomas shows jurors a pair of pants recovered from the defendant that had one of the victim’s DNA on it in two spots.
Fowler owned the home on Delmar drive and Gilmore was working with him to restore it. On Jan. 26,
2021, according to witnesses, evidence presented at trial and the defendant’s statements, the defendant
walked to the home and saw that a light was on inside but no one was present. While the defendant gave
varying accounts, ultimately he admitted that he went inside, his hand holding his .38-caliber revolver, to
steal something he could sell to get some cash.
Gilmore and Fowler returned to the home and found the defendant, who said they told him to drop what
he was carrying, but that he refused, and still had his hand on his gun. He admitted to shooting Gilmore
while they were in the front porch area, but claimed he did not mean to kill him.
The defendant, right side of photo, with his attorneys.
Medical Examiner Jay Radtke testified the fatal shot pierced the arteries and veins at the top of Gilmore’s
heart and that he likely died within seconds or minutes. A second bullet caused injuries along the front
side of Gilmore’s face.
Fowler, evidence indicated, was further back in the house across a room and a shot fired at him went
through his heart. Radtke said his death would have occurred quickly.
Basford, addressing the jury and the defendant’s claim that he did not intend to kill anyone, noted
Radtke’s testimony about a bullet hole found in the front porch floor that was near Gilmore’s head.
Radtke agreed with Basford that the location of that hole was consistent with someone standing over
Gilmore while he was already down and firing a bullet down at him, grazing his face. Both of the shots
that hit Gilmore were fired from less than 3 feet away, Radtke said.
State Attorney Larry Basford goes over a piece of evidence with Jay Radtke, Medical Examiner for the 14th Judicial Circuit, with co-counsel Jacob Cook seated to the left.
The victims were not discovered for about four hours, and though they were identified quickly there
wasn’t a clear suspect through the first 48 hours, according to testimony.
Then investigators examining Gilmore’s phone found an alert that Gilmore’s Cash App card had been
declined twice at a nearby store the day after Gilmore was killed. Video from that store showed a suspect
using the card. A still photo was taken from that video and distributed to deputies, and one of them
recognized the man as Hicks, who had been a witness in an unrelated disturbance.
He was picked up within two hours and arrested later that day.
In total, the state called 10 witnesses. The defense rested without calling any witnesses and the defendant
chose not to testify.
Quantavious Burns, who hid the murder weapon at the defendant’s request after news reports surfaced
about the killing, pled guilty earlier this week to Accessory After the Fact to Second Degree Murder and
Thursday was sentenced to 3 years’ probation, with the first 12 months of that being served in the Bay
County Jail.
For more information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or 850-381-7454.
Devin Collier, a prosecutor for the State Attorney’s Office, has been chosen by Gov. Ron DeSantis to become the 14th Judicial Circuit’s next judge.
DeSantis Tuesday afternoon announced that Collier will fill the opening created by the retirement of Circuit Judge John Fishel, II.
“I’m grateful and humbled, and I appreciate the confidence the Governor and his staff and our community has placed in me,” Collier said. “It was an absolute surprise. I come from very simple beginnings and never had I imagined that I would be in a position to be a Circuit Judge.”
Collier credited State Attorney Larry Basford, for mentoring him and helping him achieve his goals over the years.
“There’s no question in my mind that I would not be where I am but for Larry Basford,” he said. “He has, without equivocation, supported me from the time I was a young lawyer. I don’t know what he saw in me, but he saw something.
“He became my mentor, he pushed, he was tough at times, but always fair,” Collier continued. “And I owe a lot to Larry Basford.”
For Basford, who supported Collier’s efforts, it is rewarding to see a skilled and valued prosecutor who is community minded achieve higher goals.
“I know Devin to be a humble, compassionate man who is wise beyond his years,” Basford said. “The breadth of his experience in different areas of the law along with his work ethic will enable him to be an excellent judge.”
It’s also the second time in three months one of his top prosecutors has been appointed to a Circuit Judgeship, meaning there is room for other prosecutors to step into those roles.
In November, Brandon Young, the Chief Assistant State Attorney for Holmes County, was chosen by DeSantis to fill a Circuit judgeship created by the Legislature.
“We’re going to miss Devin just like we do Brandon,” Basford said. “I think the appointments of two of our top prosecutors to judgeships speaks to the character and integrity of the people we have at the State Attorney’s Office”
Collier will take office Feb. 1, handling Circuit felonies in Gulf County. The 14th Judicial Circuit includes Bay, Gulf, Holmes, Washington, Calhoun and Jackson counties.
Collier was one of six local attorneys whose names were submitted to the governor for consideration in November. The others were Brian Hill, Shalla Jefcoat, Peter Overstreet, Jacqueline Smith, and Grant Spitzer.
Collier most recently rejoined the State Attorney’s Office in July as a felony prosecutor in the Major Crimes Division. He also served on the SAO’s Critical Incident Review Team made up of senior prosecutors and investigators to review major cases. Additionally, he also worked at the SAO from 2013-18 as a felony prosecutor and Division Chief in the Panama City office.
His past employment includes working with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, handling several counseling and litigation matters; offering legal counsel to the Bureau of Land Management relevant to its relocation to the West and representing the Department in the resulting Congressional inquiry; and working on the Employment and Labor Law Unit’s COVID-19 response team.
Other experience included working with the law firm of Barron and Redding, P.A., opening his own private law firm, and the Public Defender’s Office in the 2nd Judicial Circuit as an Appellate Counsel.
Collier earned his Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude, at the Florida A&M University College of Law, where he achieved the following: 2010 and 2011 Outstanding Law Review Staff Editor; National Employment Law Association Fellow; Dean’s Top Performer Scholarship Award; and Teaching Assistant for Civil Procedure I and II.
A judge sentenced Spencer Chase Pruitt to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Tori Busch, in Panama City Beach last year, agreeing that the defendant’s claim that it was an accident did not negate what happened.
“I believe I heard the term ‘accident,’ ‘terrible accident,’ ‘freak accident.’ Judge, this was no accident,” Prosecutor Devin Collier said to Circuit Judge Brantley Clark during sentencing Monday. “This defendant loaded a firearm … and he pointed it at Tori, right at her face, and he pulled the trigger in a twisted, sick, sinister version of Russian roulette that he played, and it cost this young lady her life.”
TOP: Victim Tori Busch’s brother, Anthony, addresses Judge Clark with his parents Brian and Kelly Busch behind him, while the defendant (in yellow), lowers his head. BOTTOM LEFT: Tori Busch’s aunt, Roni Nicholson, testifies with SAO Victim’s Advocate Lisa Lea Humpich to her right.Prosecutor Devin Collier, standing, prepares for sentencing with Investigator Shannon Mitchell.
Judge Clark agreed, saying that while the defendant was supported by family and friends, and showed remorse, “the mere fact of what happened stands out above everything else – he pointed a gun at someone and pulled the trigger.”
The defendant, 25, entered an open plea Manslaughter with a firearm, and faced between 10 and 30 years in prison.
Evidence showed that the defendant and a group of young adults were visiting Panama City Beach and that many of them had brought guns or knives. On the day of the shooting, Pruitt and at least one other person there were “brandishing their weapons” inside of the room and pointing them at each other.
Panama City Beach police Investigator Tiffany McCullough said in her arrest complaint – part of which was read in open court by Tori Busch’s mother, Kelly Busch – that his investigation showed Pruitt liked to play a game where he would partially put the magazine in a gun without allowing a bullet in the chamber. Then he would point the gun at a friend and pull the trigger.
Kelly Busch, with her husband Brian at her side and their son Anthony behind them, addressed the court during sentencing.
“Before Sept. 7, our family was happy and living in a protective little bubble, innocent and always together,” Busch said. “Now our family is in shock, and the whole world knows what he did to our family. We face a lifetime of denial, hurt, anger, broken hearts, and a gaping hole in our family where Tori should be.”
Busch asked Clark for the maximum sentence, saying it was not an accident, it was a choice by the defendant.
“Tori is now forever 19 because of one man’s very bad choice,” she said. “Nobody should have the power or control to end another human’s life in such a violent way when there was no threat to their own life. Our daughter deserves justice for having her entire adult life stolen from her.”
Sentencing for a man who had been out of prison less than two months when deputies were called to a disturbance involving him, a short-barreled shotgun and his grandmother is set for Jan. 21, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
William Walter Cambley, III, 29, was found guilty Dec. 8 of possession of a short-barreled shotgun and improper exhibition of a firearm after a day-long trial.
Prosecutor Lynelle Dowe is seeking to have Cambley sentenced as a Habitual Offender, which would enhance the penalties the defendant faces at sentencing.
William Cambley
The sawed-off shotgun found at the scene.
The defendant has previous convictions for sale/manufacture/distribution of Methamphetamine, and being a felon in possession of ammunition and fleeing and attempting to elude with high speeds/reckless driving. He was released from prison on the latter charge Jan. 22, 2020, about 6 weeks before his arrest in this case.
At trial, Dowe and co-prosecutor Jacob Cook presented witnesses and evidence that after the defendant’s release from prison in 2020, he lived in a trailer on his grandmother’s property. During an argument March 5, 2020, testimony showed the defendant became angry and headed out the door, yelling at the dog while the victim attempted to retrieve it.
Testimony revealed the defendant grabbed a shotgun, “cocked” it, then pointed it in his grandmother’s direction while saying there were three shells in the gun – one for her, one for the dog and one for his mother.
BCSO Sgt Edward Jared Turner was first on the scene, followed by former Bay County Sheriff’s Deputy Montrez Potter and Department of Fish and Wildlife Officer Matthew Gore.
According to testimony, a perimeter was established, a K-9 was deployed, Cambley was found and arrested, and the K-9 also found the shotgun. BCSO Cpl. Matthew Kutcher test-fired the shotgun and testified it was operable.
Jurors needed only 6 minutes Thursday to find Bruce Ramond Johnson guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl during her 4th grade year, and Circuit Judge Brantley Clark sentenced him to three consecutive life sentences – one for each count of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation.
In announcing the fast verdict and life sentences, State Attorney Larry Basford noted the teamwork and collaboration needed among the various agencies in a case where the crimes occurred in Panama City but were disclosed later in another state.
Prosecutors Barbara Beasley (seated, left) and Jennifer Lieb confer in court, with the defendant seated at the far right.
Prosecutors Jennifer Lieb and Barbara Beasley brought together evidence and witnesses – including the victim – from three states to present the case to jurors.
In addition to the three life sentences, Johnson, 39, was designated as a Sexual Predator.
“The victim was scared and held this inside for over a year, and has shown tremendous courage in facing her abuser in court, which led to his conviction and three life sentences,” Lieb said. “Thanks to her courage, other children in the community are protected from him. Along with her testimony, this conviction was made possible by the collaboration of childrens’ advocacy centers, law enforcement agencies and medical professionals in multiple jurisdictions.”
Lieb called seven witnesses and presented evidence at trial that Johnson committed the acts against the victim in 2015 and 2016 while she lived in Panama City and was about 9 years old.
The victim was interviewed by Amy Bock, a licensed counselor in Ohio specializing in child sexual abuse victims, and during the interview discussed the three instances of sexual abuse. She testified she did not say anything prior to that, “because I was afraid of the outcome, he’d get mad.”
Johnson was arrested by Panama City police Det. C. Clark in February, 2017.
Prosecutors also presented testimony from another young girl who said she was sexually abused by Johnson under similar circumstances. Prosecutors noted the two victims did not know each other.
Former officer sentenced to jail for striking handcuffed man
A former police officer found guilty of battery for striking a handcuffed suspect in the chest while he was on the ground was sentenced to 15 days in the Bay County Jail Thursday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Eric Conley, 43, who was fired from the Panama City Police Department following the Nov. 12, 2020, incident, was found guilty at trial Dec. 1. He was taken into custody Thursday to begin serving his sentence, which will be followed by 12 months’ probation.
Lead Prosecutor Bob Pell, standing, with co-counsel Dustin Miller, addresses County Judge Shane Vann during sentencing. The defendant is seated at far left.
County Court Judge Shane Vann granted Prosecutor Bob Pell’s request that Conley be adjudicated guilty and denied a defense request that the defendant be allowed to serve his sentence on weekends. Pell and fellow Prosecutor Dustin Miller presented the case at trial.
Judge Vann also ordered the defendant to pay $800 in fines and complete an Anger Management class before his probation ends.
Prosecutors Pell and Miller presented evidence at trial that showed Conley was on duty Nov. 12, 2020, when he responded to a call and encountered a man who was ultimately taken into custody.
A video, taken by a citizen watching the scene and played for the jury, showed the 41-year-old victim handcuffed behind his back and on the ground beside the rear door of a patrol car. One officer was standing over the handcuffed man, another was in the background, and Conley was shown kneeling down over the suspect. Witnesses testified that Conley then punched the man while he was handcuffed and laying on his back.
Former officer Eric Conley, left, in dark shirt, gives some of his belongings to his attorney before being taken to serve a 15-day sentence.
The officer who had been in the background, Timothy Manson, is seen on video hurrying toward Conley, grabbing him and forcefully pulling him off the handcuffed man. At trial he testified the use of force was excessive.
Conley was questioned later that day and fired the following day when the city issued an arrest complaint against him for misdemeanor battery. His testimony at trial was that he was trying to calm down a combative suspect; prosecution witnesses countered that the man was handcuffed and not a threat.
Basford credited the verdict to the thorough case put together by Panama City police and investigator Christopher Nichol, and the presentation of that case by veteran prosecutor Pell and Miller.
A contractor charged with taking a large down-payment from an elderly couple following Hurricane Michael and then failing to perform the work or refund the money has been found guilty of Grand Theft, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Luis Armando Perez, 54, of Jacksonville, was found guilty of Grand Theft over $300 Monday after a bench trial before Circuit Judge Dustin Stephenson. A bench trial means the defendant waived his right to a jury.
Luis Perez
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan presented evidence gathered by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that the defendant accepted a $7,138 down-payment for work on a home that belonged to an elderly couple, but the work never took place. The payment represented about 10 percent of the full price of the repairs to the hurricane-damaged home.
Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Craig Romans made the arrest in June, 2019, about 6 months after the victims had written the defendant and his company, G&G Repairs, a check – which evidence showed was cashed about three days later.
Sullivan presented testimony and evidence that included a recorded call between the defendant and a law enforcement officer, during which Perez admitted receiving the money, not conducting any repairs and refusing to issue a refund.
After hearing the evidence, Judge Stephenson found the defendant guilty of Grand Theft. He sentenced him to 23 days in the county jail and ordered him to repay the $7,138.00, in addition to other court costs and fines.
Perez’ time in the county jail will be followed by 5 years’ probation.
