Articles Posted in Violent Crimes in Jacksonville

A 70-year-old Clay County woman is charged with two felonies after allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her daughter-in-law. Diana Costarakis is accused of meeting twice with the person she thought was a hitman, but was actually an undercover officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, according to a report in the Florida…

A Jacksonville man was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a Clay County double murder, but he could be released after 25 years in an increasing common sentence for judges waiting for direction on a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Derrell Emery Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, Clay County…

A Jacksonville man is on trial for the third time, accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s pregnant roommate in 2010. Andrew King is on trial facing two counts of first-degree murder -one for the death of 22-year-old Felicia Burney and the second for the death of her unborn child, according to a report in the Florida…

Evidence in the murder of an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl will be able to be reviewed by the suspect’s Jacksonville criminal defense attorneys before it is released to the public, a judge ruled last week. Donald Smith is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in the killing of Cherish Perrywinkle, according to a report…

Prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against Clay County corrections officers who watched a 19-year-old inmate die in a restraint chair earlier this year. The death of Daniel Linsinbigler Jr. was ruled a homicide, but no charges will be filed in this Clay County Homicide Case, according to a report in the Florida…

In another example of the state charging people with crimes that carry life sentences and then offering a much better deal as trial approaches, a Jacksonville man facing two counts of murder will go to prison for 15 years. Calvin Bryant was charged in two shootings during a 2010 a block party where one man…

A Jacksonville mother charged with manslaughter and child neglect for waiting to take her unconscious son to the hospital was sentenced to probation and counseling this month, despite prosecutor’s hopes of locking her up for 15 years. The sentencing wraps up the criminal portion of the case involving Cristian Fernandez, whom the state charged with…

It appears there will be no arrests in the foreseeable future connected to the Memorial Day brawl that shut down part of Jacksonville Beach during holiday festivities and left one man seriously injured. Jacksonville Beach police last week suspended their investigation in the case for the second time, according to a report in the Florida…

Despite conflicting opinions on the defendant’s mental competency, a judge found a woman guilty of all 14 felony counts related to a 2010 St. Johns County road rage incident. Andrea Zampatti allegedly rammed her Land Rover into a bicyclist, ran a scooter of the road and crashed into two St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies and…

A Jacksonville man initially facing up to life in prison when he went to trial on a second-degree murder charge was sentenced last week to 15 years in state prison. Aaron Kaiser was found guilty of shooting and killing his neighbor, whom he’d argued with for years, outside their apartment complex, according to a report…