Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that Segwayne Kirk Anthony Goldson, 29, of Jamaica, was tried and convicted by a Bay County Jury on October 11, 2016 of Sexual Battery using Physical Force Likely to Cause Serious Personal Injury for his attack on a female over age 18 on Panama City Beach this summer.

Assistant State Attorneys Barbara Beasley and Christine Smallwood showed that Goldson attacked the victim behind an abandoned Publix store on Middle Beach Road and dragged her into the woods where he brutally raped and strangled her.  During the rape, Goldson strangled the victim to unconsciousness.  When she woke, she ran half clothed into a residential area and flagged down a good samaritan who was driving by. During the trial, Assistant State Attorney Barbara Beasley presented DNA evidence that was collected at the hospital and examined by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that aided in establishing Goldson’s guilt.  The case was investigated by Steve Rhinehart of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

Circuit Judge Michael C. Overstreet scheduled a sentencing hearing on November 10, 2016.  Goldson could face Life in prison with a 50 year minimum mandatory sentence. Goldson also has pending charges in Walton County for another Sexual Battery.

Please contact Chief Assistant Attorney Larry Basford at (850) 819-6985 for any questions.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on October 6, 2016, Judge Michael C. Overstreet sentenced Jaterrance Goodman to 35 years prison for charges stemming from the November 24, 2015, incident in which Goodman was the passenger in a grey Toyota Tacoma and actively pursued the victim’s vehicle on Business 98 in the Millville area of Panama City.  At approximately 2pm, Goodman opened fire on the victim’s vehicle in “drive by shooting” style firing multiple times with a .40 caliber handgun. He struck the victim’s vehicle at least two times and came close to striking innocent bystanders at a nearby business.

On September 16, 2016 the jury found Goodman guilty as charged of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm, Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle, and Discharging a Firearm from a Vehicle.  The 35 year prison sentence includes a 20 year day for day minimum mandatory sentence pursuant to the 10-20-Life law. Judge Overstreet also included a 15 year probation sentence to follow his prison sentence.

Please contact Chief Assistant Larry Basford at (850) 819-6985 for any questions.

Press Release

The Office of the State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on October 6, 2016, Judge Michael C. Overstreet sentenced Keith McCray, a/k/a K-Dog to 35 years in the Florida Department of Corrections for his role in a June, 2015 attempted murder and robbery scheme.  In September, a jury found that McCray had robbed two individuals at gunpoint when they arrived to purchase a couch listed on Craigslist.  The crimes occurred at the 13th Street apartments on Frankford Avenue in Panama City.  Since a firearm was used during the commission of these crimes, McCray will have to serve a minimum mandatory sentence (day for day) under Florida’s 10-20-Life law.  Upon release from prison, Overstreet ordered McCray to serve an additional 15 years of probation.

Please contact Chief Assistant Larry Basford at (850) 819-6985 for any questions.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that a Washington County jury deliberated just twenty minutes before returning a verdict of guilty as charged against Jennifer Land, age 37, of Cottondale for Dealing in Stolen Property.  During the trial, Assistant State Attorney Shalla Jefcoat called four witnesses to prove that Land attempted to sell an aluminum dog box that had been stolen from her former employer six months earlier.  Land’s boyfriend is facing charges of Burglary and Grand Theft involving the same victim. The case was investigated by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. After the jury’s guilty verdict, Judge Allen Register ordered that Land be taken into custody and scheduled her sentencing hearing for October 10, 2016.

Please contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford at 850-819-6985 with any questions.

Press Release

           The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on September 16, 2016, it took less than 30 minutes for a Bay County jury to find Jaterrance Goodman guilty as charged of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm, Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle, and Discharging a Firearm from a Vehicle.

          Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy showed that on November 24, 2015, Goodman was the passenger in a grey Toyota Tacoma and actively pursued the victim’s vehicle on Business 98 in the Millville area of Panama City. At approximately 2pm, Goodman opened fire on the victim’s vehicle in “drive by shooting” style firing multiple times with a .40 caliber handgun. He struck the victim’s vehicle at least two times and came close to striking innocent bystanders at a nearby business.

          Goodman’s motive was apparently revenge. The victim had cooperated with law enforcement in a prior case against Goodman, and Goodman called the victim on his cell phone just prior to the shooting to taunt him, telling him “I’ve got 30 bullets right here for you, I’m right behind you.” Goodman now faces up to 45 years in prison. His sentencing has been set for October 6, 2016, in front of the Honorable Michael C. Overstreet.

Please contact Chief Assistant Attorney Larry Basford at 850-832-5510 for any questions.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on September 15, 2016, Ryan Calhoun, 23, of Mobile, Alabama, and Delonte Martistee, 23, of Bainbridge, Georgia, were found guilty as charged by a jury of Sexual Battery by Multiple Perpetrators.  Assistant State Attorney Christa Diviney established that both defendants committed sexual battery upon the incapacitated female victim, in a crime that occurred on the beach during Spring Break 2015 and was captured on video.  Judge James Fensom scheduled sentencing for October 21, 2016.  Each defendant is facing up to 30 years in prison.

Press Release

The Office of the State Attorney Glenn Hess announced that a Circuit Court jury deliberated approximately 35 minutes before finding the defendant Keith McCray a/k/a K-Dog, guilty as charged of Robbery with a Firearm, Attempted Robbery with a Firearm, and Attempted Felony Murder with a Firearm.

Assistant State Attorneys Devin Collier and Bob Pell presented nine witnesses during the trial to establish that the victims, in response to a Craigslist ad for furniture, were robbed at gun point at the 13th Street apartments on Frankford Avenue.  The case was investigated by Tony Phinney with the Panama City Police Department.  Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet adjudged the defendant guilty and ordered a Presentence Sentencing Report, and scheduled sentencing for October 6, 2016.  Since the jury found the defendant used a firearm during the commission of these felonies, he will be subject to sentencing under the 10-20 Life law.

Prior to trial, the three co-defendants pled guilty as charged and are serving sentences ranging from eight to 20 years.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on September 8, 2016, Jason Cantrell entered a plea to the charge of Accessory After the Fact to Second Degree Murder.

The Honorable Michael C. Overstreet sentenced Cantrell to 9 years in prison. Mr. Cantrell’s charges stemmed from his role in events that followed the October 19, 2015 murder of Mr. Clifford Lewis by Melissa Kennedy. Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy was prepared to prove that a few days after acquiring the handgun from Cantrell, Kennedy shot and killed her boyfriend, Clifford Lewis, in his home.  Evidence showed that Kennedy was upset that Lewis was preparing to evict her out of his house.  After the murder, Jason Cantrell retrieved the handgun from Kennedy, partially disassembled it, and hid it in his storage shed.  Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators Wade Boan and David Sullivan conducted an investigation which ultimately led to obtaining a search warrant for Cantrell’s storage shed where the handgun was recovered.  Ballistics testing confirmed that the handgun hidden by Cantrell was the same handgun used by Melissa Kennedy to murder Clifford Lewis.

On July 28, 2016, Melissa Kennedy was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the charge of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm.  Kennedy is 43 years old.

Aug. 24, 2016

For Immediate Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announced that the First District Court of Appeals upheld the life sentence of a Fountain man convicted of molesting a child for more than three years.

Last October, a jury convicted Raymond Scott Beck as charged of three counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 12 and two counts of sexual battery of a child 12 years old or older and two counts of soliciting a child to engage in an act which would constitute sexual battery. On Nov. 5, Circuit Judge Hentz McClellan sentenced Beck to life in prison.

Beck had appealed Judge McClellan’s decision to allow other victims to testify about Beck’s abuse upon them. However, on Monday, Chief Judge L.Clayton Roberts, Judge T. Kent Wetherell II and Judge Ross L. Bilbrey affirmed Beck’s conviction and sentence without comment.

PRESS RELEASE

On July 28, 2016, Melissa Kennedy entered a guilty plea to the charge of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm for the killing of Clifford Lewis which occurred on October 19, 2015. Judge Michael Overstreet sentenced Ms. Kennedy to a mandatory 40 years in prison pursuant to the 10-20-Life law.

Under the 10-20-Life law, Ms. Kennedy must serve this 40 year sentence day to day, with no gain time or early release. Ms. Kennedy is 42 years old and will not be eligible for release until, and unless she reaches the age of 82.

Mr. Lewis’ daughters were supportive of the sentence and expect it will amount to a life sentence for their father’s killer. Because Ms. Kennedy pled guilty, she waives any right to appeal the sentence.

Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy was please that the Lewis family will finally have some closure to this stressful ordeal, “I expect that this will amount to a life sentence for this defendant, and for her to forfeit her right to appeal will give the Lewis family some peace of mind.”