Pittman sentenced to Life in stabbing death

Posted on September 11, 2026September 11, 2026 by Admin SA

Calvin Lovelle Pittman was sentenced to Life in prison Friday for stabbing and killing a man in a convenience store parking lot in 2023, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Six jurors found Pittman, 47, of Panama City, guilty of Second-Degree Murder and Destruction or Tampering with Physical Evidence in the July 18, 2023 stabbing death of Phillip S. Harvey, 20. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay presided over the trial and sentencing.

At sentencing, Prosecutor Peter Overstreet outlined Pittman’s criminal history – which includes 12 prior felony convictions – and asked for the maximum sentence of Life.

“Mr. Pittman has shown over and over again that he has no respect for the law or the safety of others,” Overstreet said after sentencing. “He has now taken a young man from his family, his loved ones, his community, in a vicious manner. Our community is safer with him in prison, which is where he will die.”

At sentencing, Harvey’s godmother described him as an advanced student who graduated from a Tallahassee high school IB program and was pursuing a better life. He was “loving, intelligent, caring and worthy … and he deserved so much better than the fate that was forced on him.”

“What makes this even harder to accept is that he did absolutely nothing to deserve what happened to him,” she said to Judge Gay. “He deserved the chance to continue chasing his dreams. He deserved the chance to grow old … instead his family and everyone who loved him has been sentenced to a lifetime of grief.”

During the defendant’s 2-day trial that began July 21, Overstreet proved to jurors that Pittman stabbed the victim in the side while the two were arguing in the victim’s car July 18, 2023. The victim stumbled about 20 feet from the car before collapsing.

At the hospital, Harvey told two nurses that he was stabbed by Pittman during an argument.

Basford thanked @SpringfieldPoliceDepartment and @PanamaCityPoliceDepartment for their collaborative efforts that led to a successful outcome.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

2 Life sentences + 145 years for Ranglin in 2024 Beach Murder

Posted on September 8, 2026September 8, 2026 by Admin SA

Andre Ranglin Tuesday was given two Life sentences plus 145 years in prison for 10 convictions stemming from the ambush murder of O’Neil Augustus McDonald in a Beach apartment parking lot in 2024.

Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay imposed the jury’s recommendation of Life without parole for First Degree Murder, and also sentenced Ranglin to life for Attempted First Degree Premeditated Murder. Gay gave the defendant 20 years each for Attempted Burglary with Discharge of a Firearm, Attempted Felony Murder with a Firearm, and three counts of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm. Finally, she sentenced him to 15 years on each of his two convictions of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. A 12-person jury found Ranglin guilty as charged Aug. 31 after a six-day trial.

Lead Prosecutor Peter Overstreet, who along with Prosecutor Frank Sullivan presented the case, said that without the defendant’s lifelong incarceration, no one here would be safe.

Overstreet shows jurors the murder weapon

“We’d like to thank the jury for their time and attention to this case,” Overstreet said. “The verdict speaks for itself.

“Andre Ranglin will die in prison for the shooting, killing, and death of O’Neil Augustus McDonald,” he continued. “And it will be a lesson to all of those who come and want to commit crimes in our part of the world here that we will prosecute you and hold you to the highest and stiffest penalties that we can.”

The charges stemmed from an Aug. 6, 2024, shooting at a Beach apartment complex. The defendant hunted down victim O’Neil Augustus McDonald that night, walked up behind the group he was talking to, opened fire, chased the victim across the parking lot while shooting, and then put two shots into the victim’s head as he lay on the ground gravely wounded. McDonald was shot 11 times. Three shots were fired at a second victim who was struck once but survived.

During the trial, Overstreet and Sullivan called 28 witnesses and presented evidence showing the defendant and victim had worked together at a Beach restaurant. On Aug. 1, 2024, the two argued and Ranglin displayed a firearm. He was fired.

On Aug. 6 Ranglin returned and after another altercation with McDonald, Ranglin told the owner to close the business the next day because “bullets were gonna fly.”

About an hour later a Ring camera captured Ranglin walking through a foyer at the victim’s apartment complex headed toward the victim and the people he was talking to outside. A few seconds later a rapid series of shots and then screaming is heard on the Ring camera.

“He was just standing outside minding his own business, talking to friends, and they didn’t have a care in the world,” Overstreet told jurors. “But Andre Ranglin couldn’t let those last events go. When he started shooting that gun he did not care where any of those bullets went, he wanted revenge.”

Ranglin continued shooting as he chased McDonald across the parking lot. McDonald’s injuries included shots through the lungs, his pelvis, his shoulder, both hands, and his ankle before collapsing next to a retention pond.

A witness said Ranglin walked up to the victim, who was laying helpless, and fired two final shots into the top of his skull.

“The defendant wanted his revenge and he got it,” Overstreet told jurors. “The victim’s lungs had been hit, were filling with blood and he collapsed, his ankle shattered and broken with multiple gunshot wounds. But Andre Ranglin was not done. He was not satisfied. As McDonald lay helpless on the ground Ranglin kept coming and put two in his head.”

The defendant then turned his attention to the witness, who was screaming at him. She fled toward her apartment with Ranglin in pursuit and shooting at her – hitting her once – before she got inside her apartment.

He tried to force his way in as she fought to shut and lock the door. He fired a final shot through the door before fleeing.

The defendant was captured later the next day at a Dothan, Ala., motel.

State Attorney Larry Basford thanked the Panama City Beach Police Department for its handling of a chaotic crime scene and an investigation involving multiple agencies that led to a quick arrest and successful prosecution.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

Calhoun Sentenced to Death in 2010 Murder of Mia Brown

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Admin SA

State Attorney Larry Basford, left, and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet at Friday’s sentencing

For the second time, Johnny Mack “Skeeto” Calhoun was sentenced to death Friday for the brutal murder of Holmes County resident Mia Brown in 2010, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

As prosecutors, defense attorneys, and members of the victim’s family watched, Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson said he had reviewed all materials submitted and the arguments made by both sides. He then ordered Calhoun be put to death by lethal injection.

It is the second time Calhoun has been sentenced to death by Patterson for kidnapping Brown, keeping her in the trunk of his car overnight, and then burning her alive in it the following day. The first was in 2012, but the defendant was given a new sentencing hearing following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting cases across the state. The jury at the new sentencing recommended death by a 9-3 vote in April.

“Justice in this case has been a long time in coming,” Basford said following sentencing “Now, 5,698 days have passed since Mia Brown was burned alive in her car by the defendant. This was a very cruel and horrific murder.”

Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson announces the sentence.

Basford noted that this is the second time a jury as recommended death for Calhoun, the second time Judge Patterson has ordered the death sentence for him, and he has faith the Florida Supreme Court for the second time will affirm the sentence.

“When all is said and done, the defendant will be strapped to a gurney, a needle will be placed in his arm, he will be injected with a lethal dose of chemicals, and he will draw his last breath,” Basford said.

State Attorney Larry Basford, right, and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet, left, speak to members of the victims’ family.

Basford and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet presented nearly 20 witnesses and evidence at the sentencing phase in April proving the victim was kidnapped, bound, gagged, and burned alive in her car in December 2010.

Basford and Overstreet proved the murder met two of the aggravating factors required by law: it was committed during a kidnapping that facilitated the murder, and it was cold, calculated and premeditated.

Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their work and collaboration on the original case.

In Friday’s 15-page sentencing order, Chief Judge Patterson outlined the facts and history of the case as well as the aggravating and mitigating factors.

“The Defendant is eligible for a sentence of death, and a careful review of the aggravating factors determined to exist beyond a reasonable doubt, which far outweigh the mitigating circumstances, established by a greater weight of the evidence, makes clear that a sentence of death is the only appropriate penalty in the present case,” Patterson wrote.

Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their handling of the case. He especially thanked the victim’s family “for their patience and faith.”

For more information or questions contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or call 850-381-7454.

JURY: Pittman Stabbed Boyfriend to Death

Posted on July 23, 2026July 23, 2026 by Admin SA

A Panama City man was found guilty as charged Wednesday of Second-Degree Murder in the July 18, 2023 stabbing death of his boyfriend at a Springfield convenience store, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Calvin Lovelle Pittman, 47, of Panama City, was found guilty of Second-Degree Murder and Destruction or Tampering with Physical Evidence after about 45 minutes of deliberation. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for Sept. 11. The murder charge is a First-Degree Felony punishable by up to Life in prison.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet called about a dozen witnesses and presented physical evidence in the 2-day trial proving Pittman stabbed Phillip S. Harvey, 20, in the side while the two were arguing in Harvey’s car July 18, 2023. The victim suffered a large, 4-inch-deep gash to his lower left abdomen before exiting the car and stumbling about 20 feet where he collapsed.

A key piece of evidence came from the victim himself. As hospital workers tried to stabilize him for emergency surgery that day, he told two nurses that he was stabbed by Pittman during an argument.

“Mr. Harvey did nothing wrong to deserve this, but as he fought for his life on the way to surgery that day, he did something very right: he was able to identify his attacker by name,” Overstreet said. “He knew his life was in danger and he made very sure that the authorities would know it was Calvin Pittman who did this. He played a large part in bringing his killer to justice.”

“We are grateful the jurors saw this case for what it was, looked at the evidence, and concluded Mr. Harvey was telling the truth.”

Two nurses on duty that day testified the victim identified his attacker. They both also testified he asked them if he was “going to see his mom,” who passed away two years earlier.

One said the victim, suffering from a deep stab wound that went through his spleen and kidney, also asked her if he was going to see his mom as she helped get him ready for surgery.

“He said his boyfriend Calvin Pittman stabbed him during an argument,” she testified. “He told me he knew he was going to see his momma now. They put him under for the surgery and he bled out.”

Prosecutor Morgan Morrell, far left, questions a witness.

Overstreet said the victim’s identification of the killer came with no doubt.

“I submit to you when a man is dying … I don’t think he’s going to somehow fantasize and misrepresent something,” Overstreet said. “He was afraid he was going to die and he wanted his killer caught.”

Surveillance video showed the victim’s car pull up to the gas pumps of a Springfield convenience store the evening of July 18, 2023. Witnesses said there was no disturbance or shouting that drew their attention at first. But 39 seconds after arriving the defendant gets out, and 2 seconds after that the driver gets out clutching his side. He can be seen stumbling away but after 9 seconds collapses.

The passenger, identified as Calvin Pittman, is seen leaving the car and going to the victim, bending over him for a brief period. Seconds after the clerk arrived and began administering first aid, the defendant calmly walked back to the car and 20 seconds later was driving away.

“The defense would have you believe he was rendering aid, he was not,” Overstreet said. “He was essentially covering up what he had done. He didn’t do anything, he didn’t say anything, and when all eyes were on the victim what did Calvin Pittman do? He calmly walked away, shut the passenger’s door … and fled because he did not want to get caught for what he had done.”

Pittman was caught the next day in Panama City by police following “pings” emitted by a T-Mobile device in the vehicle. The defendant had parked it among some other cars hidden by houses and a fence, not visible from the roadway.

Basford thanked the Springfield Police Department, Panama City Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their work on the investigation.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.