MARIANNA – Four men received prison terms ranging from 25 years to 50 years Thursday for their roles in a plan that ended with the death of a woman they were trying to rob on Oct. 1, 2020, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Brynn Spivey, 34, Daquan Walker, 28, and Garen Dickens, 40, all pled guilty to Second Degree Murder with a Firearm and Robbery with a Firearm. A fourth defendant, Devarroius Winbush, 29, pled guilty to Accessory After the Fact to Murder.
Circuit Court Judge Anna Maria Garcia sentenced Spivey, who initiated the plan and set up the robbery, to 50 years in prison. Dickens, one of two men who carried out the robbery during which the victim was shot, was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Walker, who was with Dickens and beside the victim during the shooting and who grabbed a bag from the victim after she was shot, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Winbush, who was driving for Dickens and Walker, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. All four defendants ultimately cooperated to varying extents, something Judge Garcia considered.
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Walker and Dickens gave essentially the same story as to what happened that day, except each claimed the other was the person who discharged a shotgun into the victim. Dannyelle Mari White, 33, was shot as she sat in the passenger’s seat of a truck and died instantly.
“At the end of the day, two individuals exited that vehicle knowing they were going to commit a robbery and Ms. White was tragically shot,” Overstreet said. “The issue becomes who pulled the trigger? What everyone agrees on is each played a role in Ms. White’s death.”
Judge Garcia, after sentencing Winbush, addressed Walker and Dickens.
“The only people here who know who actually shot the victim are (Walker and Dickens),” Garcia said. “I believe you both to be equally culpable and you both knew you were going to rob the victim.
“That will be reflected in your sentencing.”
Overstreet said dealing with all four defendants at one hearing means the family won’t have to repeat its testimony and relive the ordeal.
“Justice was served today for Ms. White’s murder,” he said. “The family, after waiting years for closure, can finally begin to heal. I want to thank the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for their amazing work and investigation that led to all of the parties being held responsible.”
The victim’s stepmother also spoke in court. “Having her ripped away from our family is something from which we will never recover,” she said.
“She does not get to come home, this will never be over for us,” she continued. “We, her family, will have to learn to live without her. It has been three long years and we still have not learned how to do that.”
Prior to issuing the sentences, Garcia heard from each defendant and asked them to explain their role in the robbery and homicide, and how it unfolded, since she would be deciding the final punishment for everyone but Spivey, who had agreed to a 50-year sentence.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to provide witnesses and evidence, some of which was heard at Thursday’s sentencing, that Spivey was staying at a motel with his girlfriend and driving a truck his mother had rented. Spivey had given the victim a ride to a residence, where she had purchased about 20 grams of methamphetamine.
While that was happening, and on the ride back to the hotel, Spivey contacted Walker to tell him the victim was buying drugs and that he wanted Walker to get some help and rob her of those drugs when they returned to his hotel. Winbush was driving Walker, but did not know about the planned robbery, when they picked up Dickens and headed to the hotel.
Testimony during sentencing from the defendants showed that Spivey met the other three outside, gave them a key to the truck in case it was locked, told them where it was parked on the other side of the hotel, and that the victim was sitting in the passenger’s seat with the drugs.
Winbush thought he was driving the others to do a drug deal and they went around the hotel. Walker and Dickens saw the victim in the truck and approached it.
Walker said he opened the passenger’s door and Dickens demanded the victim, “give me everything you got.” When the victim refused and put a foot outside the truck, Walker said, Dickens shot her once and told him to grab the bag on the floorboard by her feet.
Dickins testified to the same sequence of events, except in reverse, saying he opened the door to the vehicle and it was Walker who demanded the drugs and then shot.
The shotgun was never recovered, and the bag the defendants grabbed did not have drugs in it.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators began a series of interviews that began by tracing the truck back to Spivey, confirming he had rented the hotel room, and then getting a warrant to search it since no one would answer the door. They found Spivey hiding inside.
His statements led them to Walker, and as the investigation continued with the State Attorney’s Office participation, all four defendants implicated themselves and each other.
Basford thanked the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for the long hours and numerous interviews its investigators conducted that led to tracking down the four defendants, and for gathering strong evidence that helped lead to all four entering pleas.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
