UMATILLA, Fla.—A Tuesday morning crash killed a Umatilla man and sent another to the hospital, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Shortly before 6:15 a.m., a 2008 Toyota Tacoma being driven by a 40-year-old Umatilla man was stopped southbound at the stop sign at Pine Street and County Road 450A in unincorporated Umatilla. The Tacoma failed to yield to a 1996 Honda Civic being driven westbound on County Road 450A by a 32-year-old Umatilla man, FHP said.
The front of the Tacoma collided with the left side the Civic, seriously injuring the driver of the Tacoma. The driver of the Civic was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he was pronounced deceased, and the Tacoma driver was transported to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford with serious injuries.
At press time, there was a roadblock at all four directions of the intersection, Trooper Migdalisis Garcia said. The crash remains under investigation.
LEESBURG, Fla.—Leesburg Police Department has released the name of the man found dead near Ski Beach Monday night.
Lucious W. Austin, 67, was spotted in Lake Harris near Ski Beach Bar and Grill around 7:15 p.m. and LPD, along with Leesburg Fire Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Search and Recovery Team responded to the scene and recovered Austin, LPD Sgt. Shannon Walsh said.
Austin was turned over to the medical examiner (ME) and the preliminary investigation does not indicate foul play, Walsh said. LPD is still awaiting the ME’s final report and said Tuesday the department was investigating the incident as a possible drowning.
If you have information, call LPD at 352-787-2121 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS; Crimeline callers may be eligible for a reward.
CLERMONT, Fla.—Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies are searching for a man who robbed a pharmacist of prescription pills at gunpoint in the Four Corners area of unincorporated Clermont Tuesday morning.
The suspect, described as a white male, weighing 170 to 180 pounds, with balding red hair and a beard, entered Walgreens,1600 U.S. Highway 27, Clermont, shortly before 9 a.m. and went to the pharmacy area of the store. He displayed a gun and robbed the pharmacist of prescription pills, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said.
No one was injured, and the man, who had tattoos on at least one of his arms, fled the store in an unknown direction. If you have information on the suspect’s identity or his whereabouts, call LCSO at 352-343-2101 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS; Crimeline callers may be eligible for a reward.
LEESBURG, Fla.—Leesburg Police Department is investigating after a man’s body was found floating in Lake Harris near Ski Beach Monday night.
The man’s body was spotted near Ski Beach Bar and Grill around 7:15 p.m. and Leesburg Fire Department (LFD) responded with its boat, along with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Search and Recovery Team. The man’s body was recovered, and he was turned over to the medical examiner’s office to determine cause of death, but police believe it may have been a drowning, LPD Sgt. Shannon Walsh said.
Police have identified the man, described as a 67-year-old black male, but have not released his identity pending notification of next of kin, Walsh said.
If you have information, call LPD at 352-787-2121 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS; Crimeline callers may be eligible for a reward.
LEESBURG, Fla.—Leesburg Police Department has located a vehicle believed to be involved in the murder of a 20-year-old man Monday.
James Jordan was found lying in the yard of a home in the 2200 block of Aitken Loop in Overlook at Lake Griffin around 2:30 p.m. Monday suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to UF Health Leesburg, where he died from his injuries, LPD Sgt. Shannon Walsh said.
LPD located and seized the vehicle believed to be involved, and executed search warrants on the vehicle and the location it was recovered from, Walsh said. LPD has not released the location, or the make and model of the vehicle.
“Several items of evidentiary value were recovered,” Walsh said in an email. “Detectives continue to work on this case actively.”
If you have information on Jordan’s death, call LPD at 352-787-2121 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS; Crimeline callers may be eligible for a reward.
LEESBURG, Fla.—Leesburg Police Department is investigating after a 20-year-old man was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds Monday afternoon.
LPD responded to Aitkin Loop in Overlook at Lake Griffin around 2:30 p.m. Monday in reference to a shooting and found James Jordan in the front yard of a home in the 2200 block, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, LPD Sgt. Shannon Walsh said.
Officers rendered aid to Jordan until EMS and Leesburg Fire Department arrived and Jordan was transported to UF Health Leesburg, where he succumbed to his injuries.
LPD set up a perimeter and utilized a K9 unit and LPD detectives and CSI responded to the scene, Walsh said.
If you have information on Jordan’s death, call LPD at 352-787-2121 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS; Crimeline callers may be eligible for a reward.
This is LPD’s second homicide in just over a month. On May 30, Raied “Ray” Shihadeh, 51, was shot and killed at Fast Stop Superette, 3702 Picciola Road, on May 30 during an armed robbery of the store. Alex Lopez was arrested for the crime late last month and is being held on no bond at the Lake County Jail.
TAVARES, Fla.—The father of a young girl found dead in Montverde last month was arrested last week on unrelated charges out of Polk County, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
Lojuan Jamario Sessions, 26, father of 9-year-old Jamaria Sessions, was picked up at his job in Eustis Wednesday by Eustis Police Department on two warrants for violating probation, stemming from a 2019 Polk County case.
In January 2019, Sessions was accused of fleeing from a Haines City Police Department officer after the officer found a bag of drugs, later determined to be amphetamine, in plain view in the vehicle Sessions was driving during a traffic stop, according to an arrest affidavit.
The officer put the bag of suspected drugs on the roof of Sessions’ vehicle, and asked Sessions to step out. Sessions put the vehicle in drive, took off, struck a vehicle being driven by an undercover Polk County deputy and then crashed into a palm tree. Sessions’ current girlfriend was in the passenger seat with a small unrestrained child in her lap, and three young girls were in the back seat—not wearing seatbelts.
Sessions was arrested for four counts of child neglect, possession of amphetamine with intent to sell, trafficking in amphetamine, possession of a vehicle while trafficking drugs, possession of marijuana, fleeing a law enforcement officer a at high speed, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license.
He later pleaded guilty, according to Polk County Clerk of Court records, and was sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years of probation. He is accused of violating his probation, but details of the violations were not available Monday evening.
Sessions was released from prison in August 2023, and according to Jamaria’s uncle, Joseph Robinson, Jamaria and her younger sister, 5, had been living with their father since October 2023. Before that, the sisters were living with their grandmother, Althea Chenault, following the death of their mother, Tadrina Dort. Dort died from congestive heart failure in 2022 after beating leukemia; she was just 24 years old.
Jamaria Sessions. Photo courtesy of Joseph Robinson and Althea Chenault
The girls began living with Sessions after he picked them up from school without Chenault’s knowledge or consent in October 2023 and they lived with him until Jamaria’s death on June 17. Jamaria’s 5-year-old sister, who Inside Lake is not naming, is staying with another family member.
No arrests have been made in Jamaria’s death and LCSO has released few details, only calling her death a “homicide investigation.”
“The death investigation is being treated as a homicide until the results are retrieved from the autopsy by the Medical Examiner’s office,” LCSO Cpl. Chanel Martin told Inside Lake last month. “When the cause and manner are returned explaining the death, a determination will be made on proceeding forward.”
LCSO online records show Sessions was released from the Lake County Jail Monday and Martin told Inside Lake he was turned over to Polk County Sheriff’s Office. At press time, Sessions had not been booked into the Polk County Jail.
ALTOONA, Fla.—The man found dead in his burning home Saturday took his own life, according to the medical examiner, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Michael Gall, 49, was found dead in his home at 20332 Wood Duck Road in Altoona around 1 p.m. Saturday, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said. LCSO and Lake County Fire responded to the home after reports it was on fire and LCFR found Gall dead in the home.
The medical examiner performed an autopsy Sunday and preliminary findings showed Gall died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Herrell.
ALTOONA, Fla.—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a man was found dead in a burning home Saturday afternoon.
LCSO and Lake County Fire Rescue responded to 20332 Wood Duck Road, Altoona around 1 p.m. on reports the home was on fire. LCFR removed a deceased male from the home, and authorities found he had an apparent gunshot wound, according to LCSO Lt. John Herrell.
The man, identified as Michael Gall, 49, lived at the home and detectives are conducting a death investigation, Herrell said; no other information was released.
LADY LAKE, Fla.—Lady Lake Police Department is investigating after a man was found dead in a golf cart Sunday night.
The 59-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was found after LLPD responded to 1 LaGrande Boulevard and found him unresponsive around 10 p.m. Sunday.
“There were no signs of foul play, however the cause of death is unknown. Police do not believe there is any cause for alarm to the community,” Town of Lady Lake Spokesperson Elisha Pappacoda said in an email.
If you have any information on the man’s death, call LLPD at 352-751-1565.
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