A jury in Okaloosa County found Phillip Lamar Merriell guilty May 30 of five felony charges stemming from a December 2002 shooting in Fort Walton Beach.
A Milton man, who taught school in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties, was sentenced May 28 to six years in prison on federal charges related to the online receipt of child pornography.
A California woman was sentenced May 14 in Pensacola to seven years in prison and ordered to pay more than $10 million in restitution for charges stemming from a mortgage fraud scheme, which included homes in Navarre, Santa Rosa Beach and Panama City.
A Milton was sentenced May 14 to three years in prison and two years probation on a charge of aggravated stalking stemming from threats he made against a school in Colorado the same day a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home on Spruce Street in the Midway area May 14 after a 911 caller said a resident had fired a gun inside the dwelling and had threatened to shoot her.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrested 32-year-old Jessie Eugene Morris and 25-year-old Amber Leard-Morris of Fort Walton Beach May 9 after deputies responded to a complaint of a man beating a dog with a piece of lumber and then holding it down by its neck with the lumber against its throat.
An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) deputy was arrested May 8 for alleged sexual activity with minor, according to a news release from the office.
A local man was arrested May 5 after attempting to break-in to a residence in the 2200 block of Lost Bottom Lane in Navarre. According to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report,
Santa Rosa County juries last week convicted two local men of child sex-related charges in separate cases. According to State Attorney William Eddins Office, 56-year-old Claude Russell Ratliff was found guilty May 9 of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation stemming from an August 2012 incident at Ratliff’s home in Milton. He is scheduled for sentencing July 8 and faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison.
