Articles Posted in Violent Crimes in Jacksonville

The publicity surrounding Florida’s now infamous “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law has activists digging through older cases and reinvigorating their push for dropping criminal charges or reducing sentences in Jacksonville and all over Florida. The case of Marissa Danielle Alexander is the second such case to make Jacksonville headlines lately in the wake of the…

The mother of Cristian Fernandez pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in by culpable negligence in Duval County last week in the death of her 2-year-old son and the focus is now on how that will affect the first-degree murder case against Cristian. Cristian, now 13, was 12 when he was the youngest person in Jacksonville…

Three Jacksonville juveniles have fessed up to trying to hit semi-trucks with rocks on Interstate 10 and sending one driver to the hospital. The suspects are 12, 14 and 15, according to a report on First Coast News. A truck driver was injured last week when a rock hit his windshield and cracked it, sending…

It was Terrance Jamar Graham’s case that led the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago to ban life sentences for juveniles who don’t kill anyone. And while many others have benefited and seen reduced sentences since the 2010 ruling, Graham’s day came last week for his life sentence to be cut down. Graham’s criminal defense…

Two Jacksonville parents should soon learn their fate in their separate fights against manslaughter charges after their two children – 3 and 6 – were left at home alone and drowned in the neighbor’s pool. A decision has already been made regarding the father, Markanthony O. Ibeagwa, but the judge has ordered the verdict sealed…

A Clay County child abduction and killing that grabbed national headlines reached its legal conclusion this week, as Jared Harrell pleaded guilty to killing 7-year-old Somer Thompson. As part of the deal, the state agreed not to seek the death penalty against Harrell, 26. He pleaded guilty to six counts, including murder and rape in…

Two adults in an apartment when a 3-year-old boy shot himself in the chest are facing Jacksonville felony charges in connection with the shooting. Barbara Anne Powell, 22, and Gregory Eugene Chisholm, 24, are both charged with child neglect and culpable negligence in Duval County, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Chisholm also…

There’s plenty of anger to go around in the friendly skies these days – from actor Alec Baldwin to right here at Jacksonville International Airport. A 31-year-old Georgia man was arrested at JIA last month after confronting a woman he said was “spreading disease” on the plane, according to Action News Jacksonville. When passengers were…

The behind-the-scenes legal wrangling continues to unfold around a 12-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old half-brother. The latest turn came last week when a judge denied a criminal defense motion to block the state from taking a new Jacksonville sex charge to the grand jury for a possible second…

While presiding over a murder sentencing last week, a Jacksonville judge talked about the Florida Supreme Court’s practice of reversing death sentences when the only qualifying factor is that the killing occurred during the commission of a felony. But Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud said this case was different and chose the death penalty for…