Domestic Dispute Ends In Shooting, Suicide Near Flomaton
June 30, 2015
A family dispute turned violent Monday night just outside Flomaton, ending with a shooting and an apparent suicide, the Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies received a 911 call Monday evening that someone had been shot on Old Atmore Road near Tom Shivers Road, just north of the Alabama-Florida line. Deputies arrived to find an unidentified 41-year old male suffering a gun shot wound to his shoulder, according to Escambia County (AL) Chief Deputy Mike Lambert. Deputies also learned that the alleged suspect was in the backyard of the home.
“As deputies approach the suspect, they heard a gunshot,” Lambert said. “They found the alleged suspect suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.” A LifeFlight medical helicopter was dispatched. but deputies said the alleged shooter died from the apparent self-inflict gunshot wound before transport.
The shooter and apparent suicide victim was identified as 66-year old Curtis Golden of Old Atmore Road. Lambert said Golden had an ongoing domestic dispute with his wife; the couple was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in Brewton.
The chief deputy said Golden reportedly fired from the backyard into the home in an attempt to strike his wife, but instead he struck his stepson in the shoulder. The stepson was transported to a Pensacola hospital.
Lambert said alcohol may have been a factor in the incident.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Escambia Man Gets Federal Prison For Child Porn
June 30, 2015
An Escambia County man was sentenced to prison Monday on child porn charges.
Thomas Victor Sway, 25, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography.
At trial, the government presented evidence that, between November 2012 and May 2013, Sway received and possessed child pornography, including videos depicting images of minors less than years of age engaged in sex acts. Undercover law enforcement officers discovered and downloaded the pornographic files from a public file sharing network that could be traced to Sway’s computer. After agents executed a search warrant at Sway’s residence, a forensic analysis of his hard drive revealed at least 140 video files containing images of child pornography. Additionally, the system file history indicated a pattern of Sway using dozens of distinct search terms to locate child pornography on the internet. Sway was convicted on April 15, 2015.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the Pensacola Police Department, and the other agencies that are part of the Northwest Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose joint investigation led to the charges in this case. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Ryan Love.
“This sentence is just one example of the hard work of our district’s prosecutors and law enforcement professionals to combat child exploitation crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Marsh. “These cases illustrate how dangerous the internet can be, and we will continue to investigate and charge those who target children.”
“Protecting children is a top priority for HSI, and we will continue to work in partnership with other agencies, like the Pensacola Police Department and the Northwest Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to stop the exploitation of our children,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “It is imperative for law enforcement to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
Supreme Court Signs Off On Lethal Injection Protocol
June 30, 2015
.A sharply-divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to the lethal-injection protocol used in Oklahoma and other states, opening the door for executions to resume in Florida.
In the 5-4 majority opinion issued Monday, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Oklahoma prisoners failed to prove that the use of the drug midazolam, the first of the three-drug lethal cocktail used also used in Florida, “entails a substantial risk of severe pain.”
The petitioners also failed to offer an alternative execution method that would be less painful, Alito wrote.
The Florida Supreme Court in February halted the execution of convicted killer Jerry William Correll, saying it “must err on the side of extreme caution,” until the high court ruled on the issue. The lethal-injection protocol used in Oklahoma is nearly identical to Florida’s.
Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly filed a request with the Florida court on Monday, asking that the justices lift the stay on Correll’s execution.
“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which cites Florida’s brief multiple times, states that the use of midazolam in our lethal injection protocol is constitutional, reaffirming that the state has been correctly administering executions,” Bondi said in a statement.
An aide to Gov. Rick Scott, who signed more death warrants in his first four years as governor than any of his predecessors, said his office “respects the court’s decision and will continue to follow the law.”
Scott’s “foremost concern is for the victims of these heinous crimes and their families,” his spokesman John Tupps said.
Lawyers for Oklahoma prisoners in the Glossip v. Gross case had argued that midazolam hydrochloride does not effectively sedate inmates during the execution process and subjects them to pain that violates the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Florida and other states began using the sedative as the first step in a three-drug execution cocktail in 2013, after previously using a drug called pentobarbital sodium. The states switched because Danish-based manufacturer Lundbeck refused to sell pentobarbital sodium directly to corrections agencies for use in executions and ordered its distributors to also stop supplying the drug for lethal-injection purposes.
“…Because some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution, we have held that the Constitution does not require the avoidance of all risk of pain. After all, while most humans wish to die a painless death, many do not have that good fortune. Holding that the Eighth Amendment demands the elimination of essentially all risk of pain would effectively outlaw the death penalty altogether,” wrote Alito, in an opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia.
But, in a harshly-worded dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that it is essential that the first drug effectively render inmates unconscious because the following two drugs “in a tortuous manner” cause “burning, searing pain.”
Allowing the use of midazolam, Sotomayor wrote, leaves inmates “exposed to what may well be the chemical equivalent of being burned at the stake.” Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined Sotomayor’s dissent.
In a separate dissent Breyer went even farther, questioning the constitutionality of the death penalty altogether.
“Today’s administration of the death penalty involves three fundamental constitutional defects: (1) serious unreliability, (2) arbitrariness in application, and (3) unconscionably long delays that undermine the death penalty’s penological purpose,” Breyer wrote.
And he blasted the majority for upholding the current lethal-injection protocol in part because prisoners failed to provide a less painful option.
“…Under the Court’s new rule, it would not matter whether the State intended to use midazolam, or instead to have petitioners drawn and quartered, slowly tortured to death, or actually burned at the stake: because petitioners failed to prove the availability of sodium thiopental or pentobarbital, the State could execute them using whatever means it designated,” Breyer wrote in an opinion joined by Ginsburg.
Despite Bondi’s almost immediate attempt to get executions back on track in Florida, one lawyer with a long history of representing Death Row inmates was heartened by Monday’s ruling.
“It’s merely a failure of proof, not a statement that midazolam is OK. They’re saying that the petitioners didn’t present enough proof, which I think is an important distinction,” said Martin McClain, a lawyer representing at least 10 prisoners condemned to death. “It means that the issue isn’t dead. Other people can raise the issue and present additional evidence.”
McClain also said that Breyer’s dissent, coupled with a recent opinion in a separate death-penalty case, lays the groundwork for a broader challenge regarding the constitutionality of the death penalty.
“I’m going to get busy and figure out what to do,” he said.
Escambia Academy Names New Softball, Baseball Coaches
June 30, 2015
New baseball and softball coaches have been name at Escambia Academy outside Atmore.
Allie Park has been named the new softball coach. Park played for Charles Henderson High in Troy, AL, where she was Super 12 Player of the Year in 2005. She also played for Alabama Community College and Webster University. Her coaching experience includes Clayton High in St. Louis, MO, Hooper Academy near Montgomery and Pike Liberal Arts School in Troy, AL.
Jeffrey D. Price, Jr. has been named the new Escambia Academy baseball coach. The 2009 EA graduate red-shirted at the University of West Florida, pitched at Faulkner State and pitched at at the University of Mobile where his ERA record was 5th best all-time in school history.
Pictured: Escambia Academy softball coach Allie Park, athletic director Hugh Fountain and baseball coach Jeffrey Price Jr. Photo by Ditto Gorme for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Stuck Car Carrier Slows Highway 29 Traffic
June 30, 2015
A stuck car-carrier created minor traffic delays on Highway 29 Monday evening. The car-carrier trailer bottomed-out in the driveway of the Shell station at Highway 29 and Kingsfield Road. Photos by Andrew McKay, NewsRadio 1620 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Drop Game, And Series, To Mississippi
June 30, 2015
Barrett Astin made a good showing in his Double-A debut for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos after getting called up from the High-A Daytona Tortugas.
He left the game after 5.1 innings of work with the game tied, 2-2, but the Mississippi Braves scored twice in the seventh inning to win the game, 4-2, over Pensacola and capture the series, 3-2, Monday at Trustmark Park.
Astin, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the fall, compiled a 4-3 record and 2.29 ERA at Daytona before moving up. On Monday, Astin gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out four and currently has a 3.38 ERA in his first start in the Southern League.
Mississippi pulled out the victory when catcher Matt Kennelly singled to center field to score left fielder Sean Godfrey to go up, 3-2. Then the Braves added another run to go ahead, 4-2, when center fielder Matt Lipka scored on a ground out by first baseman Kevin Ahrens to shortstop.
Pensacola scored first in the top of the second inning when Blue Wahoos catcher Kyle Skipworth singled and was driven in by left fielder Sean Buckley’s single to left.
Mississippi then tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of that inning when third baseman Rio Ruiz doubled in Ahrens.
The Braves went on top, 2-1, in the third inning when Kennelly doubled and scored on a KD Kang triple, his fourth of the season, to right field.
Skipworth singled to center and scored for the second time Monday to tie the game, 2-2, in the fifth inning when second baseman Ray Chang grounded out to shortstop.
June was a good month for several Blue Wahoos, including Chang, who hit .329 in 22 games with eight RBIs.
Pensacola right fielder Jesse Winker hit two homers and knocked in eight, while batting .325 with a .415 on-base percentage. In the first series after the Southern League All-Star break, Winker went 8-19 or .421 with a homer and two RBI against Mississippi and now has a seven-game on-base streak.
Finally, first baseman Marquez Smith—who went 0-4 Monday, ending his six-game hitting streak—hit .312 and had a .384 on-base percentage in June.
Update: Molino Man Stabs Brother With Tire Patch Tool
June 29, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has released more information in the case of a young adult male that was stabbed by his brother with a tire patch tool at a mobile home in Molino Sunday morning.
Anthony Julious Johnson, 24, was taken into custody at the scene and charged with aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
The 20-year old victim was found on the floor of a mobile home on McKinnonville Road Sunday morning by deputies that had responded to a reported domestic disturbance. He was suffering from a stab wound to his lower abdomen.
Witnesses told deputies that Johnson and his brother got into an argument inside the mobile, with Johnson grabbing a tire patch tool and stabbing his brother. Johnson told deputies that he confronted the victim, during which time the victim grabbed a machete, prompting him to act in self defense.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Ransom Middle Principal Talks Education With Congressman During Washington Trip
June 29, 2015
Brent Brummet, principal of Ransom Middle School, and John Spolksi, principal of Fort Walton Beach High School, stopped the office of Rep. Jeff Miller in Washington recently to discuss education policy.
“We are blessed in Northwest Florida with many first-class schools, and the success of these schools depends on a commitment to excellence that starts with great leadership,” Miller said. “I thank Principal Brummet and Principal Spolski for their work in Northwest Florida, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure that we empower parents and local and state officials to make the best decisions to support the educational needs of their communities.”
Pictured top: (L-R) Rep. Jeff Miller with Ransom Middle Principal Brent Brummet and Fort Walton Beach High Principal John Spolksi. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Register Now For Camp Fire Wild And Wise Day Camps In Century Or Pensacola
June 29, 2015
Space is available for July at Camp Fire Gulf Wind’s WILD & WISE Safari camp in Century, Pensacola or Milton.
Each week, campers will explore different environmental themes such as flying wild and aquatic wild. Weekly camps will continue through August 14, with registration open now for one or more week. Weekly rates start at $85 per camper in Century or Milton and $100 per camper in Pensacola.
For more information, visit campfirekids.com or call (850) 476-1760.
Council on Aging Offers Cool Tips For Beating The Heat
June 29, 2015
As summer approaches and temperatures begin to rise, the elderly will be particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses like heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, older adults, especially those taking medications that impair the body’s ability to regulate temperature, should be aware of the following cool tips for beating the heat:
- Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible.
- Do not rely on a fan as your primary cooling device during an extreme heat event.
- Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.
- Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
- Don’t use the stove or oven to cook—it will make you and your house hotter.
- Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
- Take cool showers or baths to cool down.
- Check the local news for health and safety updates.
- Seek medical care immediately if you have, or someone you know has, symptoms of heat-related illness like muscle cramps, headaches, nausea or vomiting.
Older adults and their caregivers are also encouraged to learn the signs and first aid response for heat-related illnesses. Warning signs may include:
Heat exhaustion symptoms:
- Heavy sweating
- Weakness
- Skin cold, pale and clammy
- Weak pulse
- Fainting and vomiting
If heat exhaustion symptoms are present:
- Move to a cooler location.
- Lie down and loosen your clothing.
- Apply cool, wet cloths to as much of your body as possible.
- Sip water.
- Seek medical attention if you have vomited and it continues.
Heat stroke symptoms:
- High body temperature (above 103 degrees F)
- Hot, red, dry or moist skin
- Rapid and strong pulse
- Possible unconsciousness
If heat stroke symptoms are present:
- Call 911 immediately – this is a medical emergency.
- Move the person to a cooler environment.
- Reduce the person’s body temperature with cool cloths or a bath.
- Do NOT give fluids.
For more information on how you can protect yourself against heat-related illnesses, call Council on Aging of West Florida at 850.432.1475.