Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on April 4, 2019, Circuit Judge Christopher N. Patterson sentenced Damien Woodards Brewer to 11 years in prison, followed by 4 years of Sex Offender Probation.  The Defendant was designated as a Sexual Offender.

On February 21, 2019, a Bay County jury convicted the Defendant of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation on a 12-year-old child.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Barbara Beasley and Nichole Pieper and investigated by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 29, 2019, Circuit Judge Brantley Clark, Jr., sentenced Sonny Eric Pierce to a total of 24.25 years in the Department of Corrections, the first 20 of which is a minimum mandatory sentence. Pierce was convicted by a jury of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm and Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle on March 6, 2019.

Evidence presented at trial proved that the incident occurred on June 12, 2013, in the Panama City Home Depot parking lot. The Defendant discharged a firearm, striking Jeramy Ducharme in his chest. The victim testified that when he got back into his vehicle and looked up, he was facing the barrel of the .357 firearm that the Defendant was pointing at him. The jury deliberated for 30 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.

The case was investigated by the Panama City Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Cord Grimes and Jennifer Hawkins.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 27, 2019, Kendreqco Donnell Singleton was found guilty as charged after a two-day trial.  Circuit Judge Timothy Register sentenced Singleton to life in prison for Second Degree Murder with a Firearm.
Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy, Chief of Major Crimes, and Assistant State Attorney John Maceluch, Washington County Chief, proved that on September 9, 2017, Kendreqco Singleton shot the victim, Dennis Brown, twice in the back of the head, but claimed he acted in self-defense.  Singleton buried him in a shallow grave; and later, moved the body to a dirt road after investigators began searching for the victim.  This case was investigated by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 25, 2019, Senior Circuit Judge Allen Register sentenced Jerome Roulhac, Jr., to 20 years of imprisonment, which he will serve day-for-day under Florida’s 10/20/Life law.  Roulhac was convicted of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm by a Bay County jury on February 12, 2019.  Assistant State Attorney Peter Overstreet presented evidence at trial proving that Roulhac had been in an ongoing dispute with the victim.  After an argument with the victim, Roulhac returned to the victim’s home, exited his car, and attempted to shoot the victim.  A neighbor witnessed the event and immediately called 911.  The case was investigated by the Panama City Police Department.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 22, 2019, a Bay County jury found John Rogers guilty as charged of Sexual Battery Under Specified Circumstances, three counts of Lewd and Lascivious Battery, Lewd and Lascivious Conduct, and guilty of the lesser included offense of Lewd and Lascivious Battery.

Evidence presented at trial by the State established that the Defendant had a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old victim for over a year. The evidence showed that after a year, the victim no longer wanted to have contact with the Defendant, at which time the Defendant became angry and forcefully raped her and threatened to harm her family.

This case was investigated by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Nichole Pieper and Barbara Beasley.  Circuit Judge Ana Garcia set sentencing for April 4, 2019.  The Defendant faces a term of 30 years to life imprisonment.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 22, 2019, Circuit Judge James J. Goodman sentenced Damieyon Dontrell O’Neal to life in prison for Second Degree Murder with a Firearm.  O’Neal previously entered an open plea to the charge, with no sentencing agreement.

The State was prepared to prove at trial that on April 27, 2017, the Defendant shot the victim, Kaycha Smith, three times and left her body on the edge of a field in Marianna.  Smith was pregnant and claimed the Defendant was the father of the child, and had obtained an injunction for protection against the Defendant two months earlier.  The Defendant told his brother that he had killed Ms. Smith, and a third party led investigators to the murder weapon, which was located in a drainage ditch in Panama City.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy, Chief of Major Crimes, and was investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Chipley Police Department.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 21, 2019, a Bay County jury convicted Reggie Eugene Allen of two counts of Sexual Battery on a Person Less Than 12 Years of Age, Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition in the Presence of a Child, and Sexual Battery.
The evidence presented at trial by the State established that the Defendant performed oral sex on the victim when she was 9, 11, and 13 years old, and that he masturbated in her presence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Barbara Beasley and Nichole Pieper, and was investigated by the Panama City Police Department. Sentencing is scheduled for April 4, 2019, before Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson. The Defendant is facing a mandatory life sentence and being designated as a sexual predator.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 6, 2019, a Bay County jury found Sonny Eric Pierce guilty as charged of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm and Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle.

Evidence presented at trial proved that the incident occurred on June 12, 2013, in the Panama City Home Depot parking lot.  The Defendant discharged a firearm, striking Jeramy Ducharme in his chest.  The victim testified that when he got back into his vehicle and looked up, he was facing the barrel of the .357 firearm that the Defendant was pointing at him.  The jury deliberated for 30 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.

The case was investigated by the Panama City Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Cord Grimes and Jennifer Hawkins.  Circuit Judge Brantley Clark, Jr., set sentencing for March 22, 2019.  The Defendant faces up to 25 years of imprisonment and a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence under the 10/20/Life statute.

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on March 1, 2019, Sam Armstrong joined our Jackson County office as an Assistant State Attorney in the felony division.

Mr. Armstrong received his law degree, with honors, from the University of Florida College of Law. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Armstrong worked as a Certified Public Accountant, having obtained an accounting degree from the University of North Florida.  Mr. Armstrong has litigation experience from both private practice and as a prosecutor.  While in private practice, Mr. Armstrong worked on a wide variety of civil cases and was a partner with the Miami law firm of Richey, Munroe, Fine, Goodman, and Armstrong.  Mr. Armstrong has served as both a state and federal prosecutor, and worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for a total of 22 years.  While an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Armstrong worked in the forfeiture, civil, and criminal divisions, and served as a press spokesperson.  He also served as the Chief of the Ocala Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.  More recently, Mr. Armstrong served as an Assistant State Attorney in the State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit.  Mr. Armstrong has tried a wide variety of criminal cases, including trials in bank robbery, strong arm robbery, drug, murder, solicitation for murder, assault, tax evasion, law enforcement corruption, immigration, firearm, and burglary cases.  We welcome Mr. Armstrong to our team!

For additional information, contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.

On Friday, we celebrated the retirement of Sherry Moore, who worked as a legal assistant in our Holmes County office for nearly 21 years.  Thank you, Sherry, for your many years of service to our office and to the citizens of Bonifay and the 14th Circuit.  We wish you all the best in your new position as a full-time grandmother!