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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Armed ex-mayoral candidate robs Dollar General, leads FL cops on chase, feds say
A former mayoral candidate in Tallahassee, Florida, has been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison over robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint in 2024, following his bid for mayor two years earlier, prosecutors said. Whitfield Leland III, 45, entered the store in Tallahassee on May 20, 2024, while masked and brandishing a gun at a Dollar General manager and demanding him to open the two safes, according to court documents and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida. A customer called 911 and Tallahassee police 'surrounded the store' on Brevard Street minutes later, prosecutors said. While inside, Leland pointed his pistol at a second employee, according to court documents, before prosecutors said he stole the manager's store shirt and put it on to disguise himself as a worker. Leland fled the store in the manager's shirt and ignored officers' commands to stop, leading them on a chase, according to prosecutors. With money 'falling out of his pockets,' Leland left behind a trail while running from police, prosecutors said. Officers following the money trail found Leland hiding in bushes, with more money 'stuffed into his pants,' according to prosecutors. When Leland, still in the Dollar General shirt, followed officers' commands to step out of the bushes, he had 'more cash' that 'fell out of his pockets,' prosecutors wrote in court documents. Leland was sentenced July 25 after pleading guilty to interference with commerce by threat or violence, in violation of the Hobbs Act, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and being an armed career criminal in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release. His court-appointed federal public defender, Joseph Frans Debelder, and Dollar General did not immediately return McClatchy News' requests for comment July 28. Leland, who was accused of stealing $689 during the Dollar General robbery, ran as a Tallahassee mayoral candidate in 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Describing Leland as a '13-time convicted felon,' prosecutors said he had been previously convicted of three violent offenses. This includes two convictions of resisting a law enforcement officer and one conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to prosecutors. Besides his federal case, he was most recently convicted of grand theft of more than $300, but less than $5,000, Florida court documents show. 'Thanks to the quick actions of our officers and strong collaboration with our federal partners, a repeat violent offender is off the streets,' Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said in a statement on his federal sentence. Leland, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, was a known activist in the city as well as the executive director of Round Table Community, a nonprofit organization. During his mayoral campaign, Leland said poverty was a major issue plaguing the state capital. 'Poverty is a big issue that may seem unimportant to well-to-doers,' Leland told the Tallahassee Democrat. 'Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to help the least among us to become a greater community together.' Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey won the city's mayoral race in 2022, when he was re-elected. Daily was first elected as mayor in 2018. After his 22-year prison sentence, Leland will serve five years of supervised release, according to prosecutors. He was also ordered to pay restitution by the judge.
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Fake tutor tries to meet child for sex acts, feds say. Florida cops were waiting
A man accused of posing as a tutor in a local Facebook group found Florida deputies waiting for him when he tried to meet a 12-year-old girl for sex acts, court documents say. Now, Kevin Patrick Wilson, 39, of Ponte Vedra, will spend the next decade in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. His court-appointed defense attorney did not immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment July 15. Wilson was arrested by St. Johns County sheriff's deputies the evening of July 24, 2024, after prosecutors said he had been communicating with someone he believed was the guardian of the 12-year-old girl. It was actually an undercover detective pretending to be the caregiver for the child, who was a decoy, according to prosecutors. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and the FBI began investigating Wilson in response to a tip from a woman that came in four days before his arrest, according to prosecutors. On July 20, 2024, Wilson responded to a Facebook post shared by the woman in a 'St. Augustine Jobs' group, court documents say. In her post, the woman wrote she was looking for a math and writing tutor for a child in sixth grade, court documents say. Wilson commented under her post, but pretended to be his wife and wrote, 'Hi please text my husband Kevin on his cell phone number…,' according to prosecutors. When the woman texted the phone number Wilson provided, she told Wilson she needed a tutor for an 11-year-old, prosecutors wrote in court filings. Then, Wilson 'sent a photo of himself and asked for a photo of the child,' prosecutors said. The woman stopped texting Wilson afterward and informed the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office of their conversation, according to prosecutors. The sheriff's office set up a sting operation that involved an undercover detective texting Wilson a few days later, pretending to be the guardian of a 12-year-old girl, prosecutors said. After the detective asked Wilson about tutoring services for the fake child, Wilson 'began discussing sexual topics involving the purported 12-year-old,' court documents say. Wilson talked about 'meeting the 'child' to perform sexual acts,' prosecutors said. At certain points, Wilson was under the impression that he was texting and speaking with the girl directly, but he was communicating with additional undercover detectives instead, according to prosecutors. Wilson then tried luring the 12-year-old girl into sex acts by arranging a meeting with the detective posing as her guardian on July 24, 2024, prosecutors said. 'Wilson traveled to the predetermined meeting location and was arrested,' prosecutors said. On March 12, Wilson pleaded guilty to attempted enticement and coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on July 10, court records show. Days after his arrest, Wilson's neighbor, Kathy Bargar, told Action News Jax that she was shocked to learn he was taken into custody, she told Action News Jax. 'You never know who's living next door to you,' Bargar said in an interview with the TV station. 'It's devastating, I can't believe it,' she added. Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
Miami Herald
14-07-2025
- Miami Herald
DNA cracks 2011 cold case killing that involved sex for money, NJ officials say
More than a decade after a man was fatally stabbed inside an abandoned home, DNA has led to a break in his case, New Jersey prosecutors say. Kenyar Hill, 46, was charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 slaying of Brian Holden, 42, of Camden, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said in a July 10 news release. An attorney representing Hill did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment on July 14. Camden City police responded to a report of a stabbing at an abandoned Camden home just before 10 p.m. on Oct. 11, 2011, prosecutors said. When first responders arrived, they found Holden 'lying in the front room' with multiple stab wounds, prosecutors said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors said. While investigating his death, detectives spoke with Holden's girlfriend, according to prosecutors. She told detectives she met with a man earlier in the evening and 'agreed to have sexual intercourse with him for money,' prosecutors said. Afterward, she said they started arguing, 'and he took his money back,' prosecutors said. The girlfriend said she yelled for Holden, then he confronted the man, prosecutors said. An altercation ensued and Holden was stabbed multiple times, prosecutors said. The girlfriend underwent 'a sexual assault forensic examination' at a hospital and DNA evidence was collected, prosecutors said. Investigators submitted the evidence to the New Jersey State Police laboratory; however, at the time, there were no hits in the Combined DNA Index System, according to prosecutors. CODIS is 'a computer software program that operates local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons,' according to federal prosecutors. Eleven years later, there was a 'high stringency match' in CODIS, identifying Hill as a potential suspect in the 2011 cold case, prosecutors said. To confirm the match, detectives collected a DNA swab from Hill and submitted it for testing, along with the original swabs from the sexual assault kit, prosecutors said. Hill's DNA matched that of the DNA profile from the sexual assault examination, according to prosecutors. 'After receiving the DNA results, detectives continued to follow up on the investigation, including locating witnesses from more than a decade ago,' prosecutors said. This led detectives to identify Hill as a suspect in Holden's death, prosecutors said, adding that he was arrested June 27. Camden is about a 5-mile drive east from Center City Philadelphia.
Miami Herald
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Bus driver forces Black men to sit in the back or he'll call cops, MN suit says
Rosa Parks made history when she refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 1, 1955. Her refusal helped bring an end to legalized segregation on buses, among other Jim Crow-era laws. But, on July 13, 2023, two Black men were told to sit in the back of a bus, according to a Minnesota lawsuit filed on July 7. Two Black men boarded a Jefferson Lines bus in Fargo, North Dakota, and were instructed by the driver to sit in the back of the bus despite the company having a 'first come, first serve' policy for seats, the lawsuit said. The two men started to argue with the driver, but he threatened to call police if the passengers did not comply, the lawsuit said. One of the two men forced to sit in the back is now suing Jefferson Lines and the unnamed bus driver, accusing them of racial discrimination. 'Rosa Parks took a stand in 1955, refused to give up her seat, and we're not going back, not now, not ever, not in 2023, not in 2025,' the man's attorney, Samuel Savage, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. The attorney representing Jefferson Lines did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment on July 11. A spokesperson told KARE that the company doesn't comment on active legal matters. The plaintiff, who is seeking $50,000 in damages, sat in the back of the bus during his ride from Fargo to Crookston, Minnesota, rather than continue to argue with the driver, according to the lawsuit. 'I think in the moment, it was more of a 'I just want to get to my destination and be about my business,'' Savage said. The two men were the only Black people on the bus on July 13, the complaint said. Other passengers were allowed to choose their seats, according to the suit. Four days after the man's bus ride, Jefferson Lines asked the bus driver to create an incident report. The driver wrote that he asked the two Black men to sit in the back of the bus because they smelled like marijuana, the lawsuit said. The driver was given a verbal warning for 'deviating from the policy' the next month, according to the lawsuit. In January, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights said there was probable cause that discrimination occurred during the 2023 bus ride. A similar incident on a Jefferson Lines bus in Minneapolis occurred in 2009 when a driver told a mother and her 3-year-old daughter to sit in the back of the bus, which she said was because they were Black, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. Crookston, Minnesota, is about a 70-mile drive northeast from Fargo, North Dakota.
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Man stabs 17-year-old to death and dumps body in trash can, Iowa officials say
Michele 'Luna' Jackson had a routine. The 17-year-old would borrow her mother's green electric scooter and go to a nearby park where she would sit on the swings and listen to music. On the night of Sept. 22, however, her mother grew worried when Jackson didn't return home, Iowa court documents said. Jackson's sister went searching, by herself and then with her mom, but they didn't find Jackson. Instead, they saw Nathaniel Bevers-McGivney riding the electric scooter, court documents said. Her mom called 911, and her sister called her boyfriend, according to court documents. Once he arrived, the sister and her boyfriend confronted Bevers-McGivney, and he gave 'conflicting explanations' for why he had the scooter, according to court documents. Then, the mom noticed Jackson's bloody shoe in the scooter's basket. The boyfriend then held the man at gunpoint until police arrived, court documents said. The next morning, a worker found Jackson's body in a rolling trash bin near the Farnhamville park, officials said. Blood pooled in the garbage can, according to officials, and the teen had stab wounds and lacerations all over her body. On July 9, Bevers-McGivney was convicted of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, according to the verdict. Bevers-McGivney's attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment on July 10. '(Jackson) brought joy to those around her with her love for Minecraft, virtual conversations with friends, and her love for swinging in the park and passion for music,' her obituary said. The man slit the girl's throat with a knife while she was at the park and stabbed her at least 22 times in the chest and back until the blade got detached and got stuck in her back, according to court documents. Bevers-McGivney took the knife handle back to his apartment and threw it in his own garbage, according to officials. Jackson's blood was found on the floors of the residence, in the bathtub, on a white towel and on the man's clothes. He left his apartment and put Jackson's body in a trash can, then rolled it away from the park to a cornfield, officials said. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15. Farnhamville is about an 80-mile drive northwest from Des Moines.
