SUV CRASHES INTO SHED, KILLING SLEEPING MAN, PREGNANT WOMAN
Police say an SUV crossed a highway median and slammed into a shed where a man and a woman who was nine months pregnant were sleeping, killing them both. The vehicle lost control on a highway early Wednesday and crashed through the fence at the Lone Oak Mobile Home Park in Palmetto, south of St. Petersburg. Christian Carlos says his 21-year-old brother Ivan Carlos and 18-year-old Brenda Avilez died on impact. The fetus also did not survive.
4TH MAN GUILTY IN 2007 SLAYING OF REDSKINS’ SEAN TAYLOR
A fourth man has been convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor during a botched burglary. A judge immediately sentenced 25-year-old Charles Wardlow to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday. Wardlow was among a group from the Fort Myers area accused of traveling to Miami to steal money from Taylor’s home, believing he was out of town. Taylor was home nursing an injury and was fatally shot after confronting the group with a machete. Eric Rivera Jr., identified as the triggerman, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
PARENTS OF GIRLS INVOLVED IN BROTHER’S SLAYING CHARGED
The parents of two young sisters arrested after the fatal shooting of their 16-year-old brother have been charged with child abuse and neglect. Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday accusing the couple of locking their 15-year-old daughter in the same room where the girl had been sexually assaulted. The girl was given only a blanket and a bucket to use the bathroom. The girl and her 11-year-old sister were arrested on suspicion of murder after the Jan. 5 shooting. The elder girl later was charged with burglary and received probation. No charges were filed against the younger girl.
FLORIDA SENATE PASSES BILL TO ADDRESS PRISON CONCERNS
The often criticized Florida prison system could see a number of changes under a bill aimed at reducing prison beatings and deaths. The Florida Senate voted 36-1 on Wednesday to pass a bill that would take away some of the governor’s power to appoint a corrections secretary and would create a commission with the power to independently investigate corruption or deaths. The corrections secretary would have to receive approval from the governor and Cabinet. Now, the governor has the sole decision on who runs the department.
SUSPECT KILLED DURING SHOOTOUT WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT
Authorities say a north Florida man is dead following a shootout with members of a federal task force at a Tampa Bay area home. The U.S. Marshals Service and the Tampa Police Department were serving an arrest warrant at a Carrollwood home Tuesday night. Authorities say 36-year-old Jeremy James Anderson was wanted on warrants related to sex crimes charges in Marion and Lee counties. Anderson also had a lengthy criminal history that includes a 1997 conviction for attempted first-degree murder.
