Latest news with #StandYourGroundLaw
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Marion County 2023 murder prompts continued calls for change, Netflix documentary
A call for change continues, exactly two years after a Marion County mother was killed by her neighbor in front of her young children. It was the end of an ongoing, racially charged feud between Susan Lorincz and Ajike 'AJ' Owens. Today, Owens' mother shared with me her motivation to change a state law and what she needs from the public right now. The past two years have been the hardest, toughest journey I've ever been on. It's been filled with grief, sadness, despair," said Pamela Dias, the mother of Owens. If you look at the young children left behind, you'll understand why. Two years ago, Pamela Dias was taking care of her four young grandkids - 3, 7, 9, and 12 years old - after their mother, Ajike 'AJ' Owens, was shot and killed just outside their Ocala home. Her killer, Susan Lorincz, wasn't initially arrested because she relied on the state's Stand Your Ground Law, which lets gun owners shoot in self-defense if they believe their life is in immediate danger. Now, Dias is on a mission to overturn the state's longstanding law. This task has never succeeded before, despite the highly publicized murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford in 2012, which triggered nationwide protests. 'Never use the word never. There's always hope. And it'll just take those who are against it, those who want to stand for the right thing, to come together and unite. And if we do that, we can make a real change.' Dias is raising revenue to fight the law through her Standing in the Gap Fund, created in response to the death of her daughter. Dias also shared that it's a financial resource for families across the country who have been affected by race-based violence. Lorincz is now serving out a 25-year sentence for manslaughter, a punishment that was never considered acceptable for the life these children lost and the ongoing trauma they manage daily. 'Four children lost their mother because someone who was a racist decided to shoot through a locked metal door. That's unacceptable. We need real changes,' said Dias. Owens' story is the subject of a Netflix documentary, set to debut in the fall. They're also hoping that global attention will aid their push to repeal the state's Stand Your Ground Law. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Murder trial of former Decatur police officer delayed until September
May 9—The murder trial of former Decatur police officer Mac Marquette was postponed Friday from June 9 to Sept. 15 after his request for a delay was granted while an appellate court reviews his petition for immunity under Alabama's Stand Your Ground law. Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott granted the delay following a request from Marquette's attorney, Brett Bloomston, of Birmingham, who asked for more time while the state Court of Criminal Appeals considers the immunity petition. Marquette, 25, was indicted for the murder of 39-year-old Steve Perkins, who was shot and killed in the front yard of his home on Ryan Drive Southwest during the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2023. Marquette pleaded not guilty. In March, Elliott ruled following an immunity hearing that Marquette was not entitled to immunity under Alabama's Stand Your Ground Law, allowing the case to proceed to trial. Marquette's defense team challenged the ruling, filing the motion to delay the trial to allow time for an appeal of Elliott's ruling. — or 256-340-2442.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mother says Winter Haven police should be held accountable for toddler's trauma in viral arrest video
Black Lives Matters Restoration Polk Inc. is demanding greater accountability from Winter Haven Police Department and Santiago's Market for their actions leading up to a 3-year-old girl lying face down on the ground with her hands behind her back. Carl Soto, of BLM Restoration Polk, and Winter Haven resident Mariah Banks, mother of the 3-year-old girl shown lying down in a video that quickly went viral on social media, held a news conference Wednesday in front of the police department. Soto has called for the termination of all police officers involved in the March 4 incident, the possible resignation of Chief Vance Monroe and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. They are pushing for criminal charges to be filed against Santiago's employees for their roles in the altercation. "We're living in a day and time where law enforcement cannot accept accountability for their own actions," Soto said. About 1:30 p.m. March 4, Winter Haven police received several 911 calls about a fight outside Santiago's Market, 898 Havendale Blvd. N.W. Banks said a Santiago's employee, 46-year-old Jesus Crespo Perez, accused her of urinating in public on the businesses' outdoor patio. She said she attempted to explain she was pouring water from a bottle over her hands to rinse off her hands. The verbal argument quickly escalated. Banks said Crespo Perez, who works as a butcher for Santiago's, displayed a knife in a threatening manner escalating into a physical fight. Monroe shared a roughly 5-minute, 30-second security video obtained from Santiago's Market at a March 6 news conference. When asked about Crespo Perez displaying a knife, Monroe said he did not see a knife in the video. Banks said Wednesday afternoon she was first threatened with a knife by Crespo Perez while she was still on the market's patio with her daughter, under shade umbrellas. She said the knife is obscured from view in the security camera footage. Godfrey Hercules II, 29, the father of Banks' 3-year-old daughter, displayed his legally owned firearm in self-defense, according to Soto, as permitted under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. Under the state statute, individuals are not required to retreat before pulling a gun in self-defense if they perceive a threat to their life. "Video evidence also reveals multiple employees of Santiago's attempted to hold Mr. Perez back when they realized he was the aggressor," Soto said. "He was still able to break loose, take off his shirt and lunge in the direction of Mrs. Banks and Mr. Hercules on four occasions. On one occasion he blocks their vehicle from leaving and you can see him hitting the trunk of the car taunting the father to exit the vehicle. Crespo Perez and Hercules were each charged by State Attorney Brian Haas with one misdemeanor count of affray filed March 14. If found guilty, the maximum penalty is one year in prison and up to $1,000 fine. Only Hercules faces an additional misdemeanor charge of improper exhibition of a firearm. Soto said Hercules' lawyer will file a motion to dismiss the charge immediately. "We call it malicious prosecution," Soto said. Banks and Soto said they want additional charges filed against Crespo Perez for unlawfully threatening an individual with a deadly weapon. Soto is calling for the police department and Haas to file charges against one of the 911 callers, whom they claim provided misinformation. Monroe said a Santiago's employee who called 911 described a Black man with a firearm in a manner that caused the dispatcher to code the call as an "armed robbery." Video footage obtained from Santiago's Market and publicly released by the police department clearly shows Crespo Perez was the aggressor in the incident, not Hercules, Soto said. "The 911 caller that willfully provided false information to 911 dispatch committed a misdemeanor. She needs to be criminally charged," Soto said. "We're demanding the State Attorney's Office do their job." Because of Crespo Perez's actions and the 911 call, Banks is working with an attorney to potentially consider filing a lawsuit against Santiago's Market. Banks is working with attorney Mauricio Padilla of the Miami-based Padilla Law Group, to consider a potential lawsuit against the Winter Haven Police Department for trauma to her 3-year-old daughter and violations of her Fourth Amendment rights. "I don't think anybody understands what I'm dealing with as a mother trying to keep my baby up, make her feel okay and safe," she said. "In that moment, I was not able to make her feel safe. Her father couldn't make her feel safe. All we could do as a family is lay there with guns pointed at us, police yelling, screaming and cussing." Banks said her daughter is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from witnessing her mother's detainment. She said the girl screams, cries and begins clutching at her mother when she hears sirens go off at a fire station near their home. In the 911 calls of the fight, Banks was never accused of exhibiting violent behavior. She was never reported to be in possession of the firearm, Soto said, merely with Hercules and a child. "A 3-year-old child was ordered to the ground face down and she put her hands behind her back," Soto said. "A 3-year-old child down while officers had their guns pointed in her direction, even though they knew according to the 911 call that Ms. Banks was not the one who had the weapon. She was not the one who attacked or participated in the assault." Body cam footage show officers pointed their guns at Banks as they came around the side of a car, before realizing she was accompanied by her daughter. "I want the officers that were standing in front of my daughter holding that gun, I need them to have some kind of legal actions done," she said Wednesday. "It was multiple police out there with their weapons pointed at us." Banks said there was an officer standing off to the side, not immediately involved, who she thinks should have holstered his firearm and helped her child off the ground. The officer turned away instead, she said, moving toward the area where another team of officers was handcuffing Hercules. Body cam footage released confirms one officer ran toward Banks and her daughter, before turning toward the second scene where Hercules was being detained. "My daughter was not helped up by a police officer. She got up off the ground on her own, holding onto me getting up off the ground," Banks said. Winter Haven police did not immediately comment about the news conference on Wednesday. Monroe has publicly praised his officers for acting within policy and doing their best to immediately help the girl given the circumstances. The police chief has said the situation needs to be reviewed to determine whether additional training is needed or where the police department could alter its protocols to do better. Banks was brought to a cruiser where she was detained for over an hour, Soto said, and was not informed why she was begin detained despite repeated requests for information. "That's a blatant violation of her Fourth Amendment rights," Soto said. "They had her detained for an hour because they were fishing for something to charge her with." Padilla said he is representing Banks, reviewing the documents but no lawsuits have been filed as of Wednesday afternoon. Soto and Banks said they have repeatedly requested to meet with the WHPD chief, but the replies have been "inadequate" so they plan on escalating their complaints to city and state officials. A complaint has been sent to the U.S. Department of Justice by certified mail. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven mom demands officers be fired over viral arrest image
Miami Herald
07-03-2025
- Miami Herald
Popular MMA fighter killed during violent home invasion in Florida, team says
A popular mixed martial arts fighter was killed while participating in a late-night home invasion in north Florida, according to his associates in the sport. Langston Sykes, 31, was shot just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, at a home on SW Leslie Glen in Lake City, the Lake City Police Department said in a news release. Investigators believe the fatal shooting counted as self-defense under the state's Stand Your Ground Law, Lake City police said. 'Victims of the home invasion reported that the individual, who was known to the victims, attempted to break into the home and was successful,' police said. 'The residence contained multiple adults and children. One of the adults fired multiple shots at the intruder when he rushed toward them.' First responders tried to revive Sykes, but he died at the scene, officials said. One of the adults in the home 'had an active injunction against' Sykes, officials said. Details of the injunction were not released. Sykes went by Langston 'Blaze' Sykes in the sport and was proficient in MMA and kickboxing, a promotional social media page says. He was a father of five and known to be 'a fierce competitor,' according to martial arts coach James Smiley, who identified Sykes as a member of his team. 'He was more than just a part of our team, he was family,' Smiley wrote in a March 5 Facebook post. 'You may be gone, but your legacy, your spirit, and your impact on all of us will live on forever. We'll carry you with us in every fight, every moment, and every memory.' Sykes, a Miami native, last competed in August, the MMA site says. He was based out of Lake City, which is about a 60-mile drive west from Jacksonville.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Controversial Prince Netflix Documentary Will Not Be Released, Estate Is Free to Create New Project
Netflix has canceled the release of what was supposed to be a six-part Prince documentary directed by Ezra Edelman. 'The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince's archive,' Netflix said in a statement shared with Variety on Thursday. 'As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.' More from Variety Netflix Nearing $5 Million Deal for 'Perfect Neighbor,' Sundance Documentary About Florida's Stand Your Ground Law (EXCLUSIVE) Netflix, Max and Prime Video Negotiate With French Film Guilds for Earlier Access to New Releases After Disney+ Deal Robert De Niro Says Filming 'Zero Day,' His First Big TV Role, Was Like 'Swimming the English Channel': 'I Gotta Keep Going, Otherwise I'm Gonna Sink' Upon making this news public, Prince's estate published a video on X touting 'the vault has been freed,' and including the hashtag 'Free.' Representatives for the late artist's estate previously claimed a first cut of the film was filled with 'dramatic' factual inaccuracies and 'sensationalized' renderings of certain events from his life, according to sources close to the situation. Edelman, best known for creating the 'O.J.: Made in America' documentary, had been quietly working on the film for over four years. Edelman, who was enlisted to replace original director Ava DuVernay, was given extensive access to Prince's archives. The first drafts for the deal — made between Netflix and representatives of Comerica Bank, the interim executor for Prince's estate — called for a six-hour series, though Edelman reportedly delivered nine hours of footage, a violation of the agreement that presumably enabled the estate to withhold music rights. According to a September report from The New York Times, the documentary featured Prince's ex-girlfriends accusing him of physical and emotional abuse. The film touched on Prince's journey — both on his artistry and his personal relationships — with accounts of his own abusive childhood and the abandonment of his young wife Mayte Garcia after the couple lost their child, the Times reported. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
