Groveland

GROVELAND, Florida—A 7-year-old girl has died after being run over in a driveway Easter Sunday afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A 70-year-old Groveland woman was parked in a driveway dropping off family members at a home on County Road 48 near County Road 33 at 4:30 p.m. The woman put the van in “drive” and failed to realize her 7-year-old granddaughter was in front of the van, and she was struck, FHP Lt. Kim Montes said in a press release.

The girl, also of Groveland, was transported to UF Health Leesburg, where she later died. The crash remains under investigation.

This is the second tragic traffic incident involving children in Lake County in less than 24 hours. On Saturday, a 2-year-old boy and 4-year-old boy, who were not in car seats, were killed in a head-on crash near Sorrento. A 1-year-old boy in the same crash was airlifted with serious injuries. The three boys, all of Leesburg, have been identified as brothers in numerous social media posts.

GROVELAND, Florida—A man is facing a charge of aggravated animal cruelty after allegedly shooting and killing his neighbor’s dog.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home on Sandcastle Drive in unincorporated Groveland around 10 a.m.  Jan. 10, according to an arrest affidavit. When they arrived, they found a couple covered in blood who told them their dog had been shot by the neighbor. The man left to take the dog to the emergency vet and the woman told LCSO she walked out to call her dogs and heard a single gunshot.

She observed her older dog limping and noticed it was unable to get through the fence. She told her husband she believed the neighbor shot the dog and when they went to question the neighbor, they found Curtis Aaron Jones, 58, who lives with their neighbor, according to the arrest affidavit. When questioned if he shot the dog, Jones allegedly admitted it and said he shot the dog because it was in his garbage can. The woman told Jones she was going to call law enforcement and when they arrived, they spoke with Jones.

He said he saw two dogs in his trash, yelled and grabbed his shotgun. He told LCSO he did not mean to hurt the dog, he just wanted to shoot next to it and scare it. Deputies spoke to the emergency vet, who said the numerous pellet holes in the dog were consistent with someone shooting directly at the dog, not to miss or scare the dog, the affidavit states. X-rays showed the dog suffered more than 80 pellet wounds from the bird shot and died less than two hours after arriving at the vet.

Jones admitted the dogs were not posing a threat to him at the time he fired the weapon. He was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty and is being held at the Lake County Jail in $5,000 bond. 

GROVELAND, Florida—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a horse was found shot to death Sunday morning near Groveland.

Jackie the horse was found by her owner, Tonya Sanders when Sanders went to feed her Sunday morning on the 13-acre property she owns with her husband, she told Inside Lake.

Sanders found 15-year-old Jackie dead from a gunshot wound around 9 a.m. in her pasture on Indianhouse Lane near State Road 19 in unincorporated Groveland, according to an LCSO report.  Sanders and her husband told LCSO that between 10 and 11 p.m. Saturday they heard two loud booms they believed to be gunshots from inside their home, and their dogs continued to make an excessive amount of noise for several hours. Sanders said they often hear loud noises like tires blowing out in the rural area just outside of Groveland and the dogs bark if they see small animals like possums.

When they found Jackie, valued at $10,000, they pulled her out of the pasture, saw blood coming from her nose, and found a small gunshot wound near her kidney and called LCSO.

There were tire tracks near Sanders’ fence and the ground was disturbed inside the pasture; Sanders said it is possible the person responsible coaxed Jackie to the fence and then shot her but does not understand the motive.  She said her “dogs were going bonkers” and they may have spooked the shooter.

The responding deputy found no exit wound on Jackie and noted the horse appeared to have run around the pasture for “some time” before she succumbed to her wound.  As she choked back tears, Sanders told Inside Lake the bullet traveled around inside Jackie’s abdomen and she eventually bled to death.

Deputies canvassed the area for shell casings and were unable to find any. No other shooting incidents were reported in the area to LCSO or neighboring Groveland Police Department, according to the report. The Sanders’ told LCSO they had no suspects in mind.

Other animals are located on the property, but none of them were hurt. Sanders has owned Jackie for about eight years, and they competed in the National Barrel Horse Association for the past year. Sanders was thrown from another horse several years ago and broke her ankle and took some time off.  Jackie was docile and was patient and gentle with Sanders.

“I just started back last year, and she took care of me,” Sanders said.

Sanders said a neighboring rancher has offered $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of conviction of Jackie’s killer. Sanders’ sister is matching the donation to bring the total reward to $5,000.

If you have information, call LCSO at 352-343-2101.