Montverde

Father of young girl found dead in Montverde last month arrested on unrelated charges

Eustis, Inside Scoop, Montverde, Tavares / By

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.

Previous stories: Death of 9-year-old girl being treated as a homicide investigation, maternal family says – Inside Lake

Child found deceased at Montverde home, Medical Examiner to determine cause of death – Inside Lake

Father of young girl found dead in Montverde last month arrested on unrelated charges Read More »

Jamaria Sessions. Photo courtesy of Joseph Robinson and Althea Chenault

Death of 9-year-old girl being treated as a homicide investigation, maternal family says

Inside Scoop, Montverde / By

MONTVERDE, Fla.—The maternal family of the child found deceased in a Montverde home Monday has publicly identified her and they say the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has told them her death is a homicide investigation.

Only Inside Lake spoke with the uncle and grandmother of Jamaria Sessions, 9, this week. According to Jamaria’s uncle Joseph Robinson, Jamaria and her younger sister, 5, had been living with their father, Lojuan Sessions since October 2023, and Jamaria was found deceased at his home in Montverde. Prior to that, they were living with their grandmother when Sessions picked them up from school without her knowledge or consent. Sessions was released from prison in August 2023 after serving a five-year prison sentence for two counts of child neglect, trafficking in MDMA and fleeing and eluding, stemming from a case in Polk County. According to Florida Department of Correction records, he was simultaneously serving a two-year sentence for an Orange County aggravated assault with a weapon case. He is currently on probation for the Polk County case.

The victims’ names in the Polk County case are redacted, but Robinson told Inside Lake, Sessions saw the girls very little prior to his prison sentence and they were not the children in the vehicle with him when he fled police.

The girls 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 only 24 years old.

Robinson said Sessions has not let the maternal side of Jamaria’s family see her or her sister since he picked them up from school in 2023. There is an open custody case between Chenault and Sessions, but the documents are not available to the public.

LCSO is investigating the case and has released very little information.

“The death investigation is being treated as a homicide until the results are retrieved from the autopsy by the Medical Examiner’s office,” Cpl. Chanel Martin told Inside Lake Friday.  “When the cause and manner are returned explaining the death, a determination will be made on proceeding forward.”

Previous story: Child found deceased at Montverde home, Medical Examiner to determine cause of death – Inside Lake

Death of 9-year-old girl being treated as a homicide investigation, maternal family says Read More »

File photo

Child found deceased at Montverde home, Medical Examiner to determine cause of death

Inside Scoop, Montverde / By

MONTVERDE, Fla.—A 9-year-old child was found deceased by a family member at their home in Montverde Monday and turned over to the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The child’s name and gender were not released.

Little information was available Tuesday, but “there is no danger to the public and the investigation is ongoing,” Cpl. Chanel Martin told Inside Lake.

Child found deceased at Montverde home, Medical Examiner to determine cause of death Read More »

Joseph Greene PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff's Office

Montverde Man Arrested on Multiple Child Pornography Charges, More than 1,000 Images Found  

Inside Scoop, Montverde / By

MONTVERDE, Florida—A Montverde man is being held on no bond after a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) resulted in a search warrant that revealed more than 1,000 digital child pornography images, some with children younger than 4 years old, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) began investigating Joseph A. Greene, 64, after NCMEC reported Greene had uploaded approximately 500 child pornography images to his Google account between Feb. 18, 2022 and Oct. 25, 2022. FDLE executed a search warrant for his account and found graphic images depicting young girls in various sex acts alone, and with adults, the affidavit states.

There were also numerous images of Greene masturbating with captions referring to children, in addition to photos of a young girl Greene knows. Those images appeared to be taken from social media accounts, according to the affidavit.

A warrant was issued for Greene Wednesday and he was arrested at his home on Omega Court in Montverde Thursday. Greene, who has an active warrant out of Georgia for an undisclosed crime, is facing 20 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child, but there are more than 1,000 additional counts that could be charged, the agent noted in the affidavit.

Greene, who does not have a Florida driver license or ID, has no known family in the area and is a potential flight risk, according to FDLE. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.

Montverde Man Arrested on Multiple Child Pornography Charges, More than 1,000 Images Found   Read More »

The intersection of County Road 455 and Willo Pines Lane in Montverde. PHOTO: Google

Suspect Who Fled Crash that Killed Teen Confessed to FHP, According to Report

Clermont, Inside Scoop, Minneola, Montverde, Unincorporated Lake / By

MONTVERDE, Florida—The man who hit a high school freshman earlier this week was found by his boss using a tracking device and turned over to the Florida Highway Patrol, along with the two occupants who were in the car with him, and the driver confessed to the crime, according to a report.

Owen Wells, 14, a ninth grader at Lake Minneola High School, was killed around 6:20 a.m. Thursday on County Road 455 near Willo Pines Lane when he was struck by a Pontiac G6 being driven by Enrique Ramirez, 57, of Winter Garden. The impact threw the teen into the southbound lane of County Road 455 and Owen was then struck a second time by a Dodge Ram being driven by Jeffrey Bolin, 59, of Ferndale. Bolin stopped after the crash, stayed on scene and gave troopers a statement; Ramirez stopped briefly and then fled the scene, he told troopers.

According to the arrest report, Ramirez said he was “scared” and believed because other people stopped, he did not have to; Ramirez had two of his coworkers in his car when he hit Owen. The trio fled to their boss’ house a few miles away, left the vehicle with the damaged left headlight, picked up a work truck for the landscaping business they work for and went about their day.

Owen Wells and his two younger brothers PHOTO: GoFundMe/Support for the Wells’s Family

Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies located the vehicle in front of the home just a few miles from the scene of the crash. Troopers responded and observed damage consistent with the crash and it matched “perfectly” to reflectors and mirror housing parts left on the scene, according to the report. They spoke with Esdras Rivera, owner of the landscaping business, who told them Ramirez and his buddies, Alberto Perez Hernandez and Francisco Javier Zacarias Cononado, were “acting weird” and seemed “very short” when they arrived earlier to pick up the work truck.

Rivera told troopers he had a tracking device on the work truck and could locate Ramirez. The Pontiac was towed by FHP for processing with an FHP sergeant following close behind, according to the report. Rivera located Ramirez, Hernandez and Cononado, picked them up and took the trio to the FHP station on Semoran Boulevard in Orlando where they were questioned, the report states. Attempts to reach Rivera for comment were unsuccessful.

 All three were interviewed by troopers and Ramirez admitted he was driving the Pontiac at about 40 miles per hour northbound on County Road 455 when he saw a person’s shadow on the roadway and swerved to avoid the person. He said he struck the person, and the person was struck by a truck, according to the report.

Enrique Ramirez

Ramirez said he stopped briefly, then left the scene because he was “scared” and “others had stopped so he thought he could leave,” the report states. Ramirez’ passengers, Hernandez and Cononado both admitted they were passengers in the car at the time of the crash and fled the scene. They have not been charged and FHP has turned its findings over to the State Attorney’s Office for review, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi told Inside Lake.

Ramirez was arrested for leaving the scene of a crash involving death and transported to the Lake County Jail. Troopers requested no bond when he was booked into the jail, and the bond has since been lowered to $100,000. Ramirez remained in LCJ at press time.

An account has been set up to help support Owen’s family, to donate, visit Support for the Wells Family

Suspect Who Fled Crash that Killed Teen Confessed to FHP, According to Report Read More »

Pedestrian Killed Thursday Morning, CR 455 Shut Down

Inside Scoop, Montverde / By

MONTVERDE, Florida—A pedestrian fatality has shut down County Road 455 Thursday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a vehicle and a pedestrian were involved in a crash of County Road 455 near Willo Pines Lanes just before 6:30 a.m. The pedestrian was killed and motorists can expect County 455 to be shut down for several hours.

This is a developing story.

Pedestrian Killed Thursday Morning, CR 455 Shut Down Read More »

File photo

Deputies Step Up Patrols After Unidentified Man Told Tween Boy to Get in His SUV at Bus Stop Thursday Morning

Clermont, Inside Scoop, Montverde, Unincorporated Lake / By

CLERMONT, Florida—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has stepped up patrols at bus stops around County Road 455 and 3rd Avenue in unincorporated Clermont after a 12-year-old boy said a stranger called him by name and told him to get in his SUV, according to LCSO Sgt. Jim Vachon.

The East Ridge Middle School student was walking to his bus stop around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an older white male driving a silver SUV  with tinted windows approached him.

“According to the student, the driver knew his name and instructed the student to get in his car, to which the student refused. The student stated he then called his mother and fled to a nearby home, where he waited until the bus arrived,” Vachon said in an email.

A witness confirmed the SUV was in the area and interacting with the boy and saw the boy run away, Vachon said.  

The suspect is described as an older white male, with white hair and a white beard and he was wearing a black shirt. Detectives are working to identify the man and are asking anyone with information to call LCSO at 352-343-2101.

Deputies Step Up Patrols After Unidentified Man Told Tween Boy to Get in His SUV at Bus Stop Thursday Morning Read More »

Scroll to Top

No Paywalls

Local journalism is more important than ever before and we are dedicated to the health and vibrancy of our community. Your support helps us maintain our independence and our ability to report the news without bias or influence.

You can show your support by advertising, email us at [email protected] or by donating at PayPal