Florida man dangled 4-year-old boy from 2nd story balcony before dropping him head-first, police say



A 31-year-old man is facing a felony aggravated child abuse charge after police said he dangled a 4-year-old from a second-story balcony and then dropped the child.

The Daytona Beach Police Department said in an affidavit that Brandon Gilmore had only met the mother of the child five hours before the incident at a Florida hotel resort on Saturday. He told them he met her while they were both at the hotel's pool drinking alcohol and she invited him to her room.

'The kid slipped right out of him and fell directly on his head on the concrete, no grass.'

Police say they have obtained surveillance video showing Gilmore holding the child normally before going out onto the balcony at the Sandals Inn.

The man allegedly told the mother that he wanted to scare the child "a little bit" at about 7:30 p.m.

Witnesses said they saw when the child tumbled to the ground.

"He was just like swinging in, playing with them," Dasanni Bentley, who witnessed the troubling incident, said. "And then he let him go, and he had him by one foot. And then the kid slipped right out of his hand and fell directly on his head on the concrete, no grass."

She said that the child's face started turning bright purple.

"He obviously was getting no oxygen. It was just not a good situation," Bentley added. She said Gilmore and the child's mother ran downstairs to the child.

"They were just all down like all around him, trying to make sure he was OK," she continued. "People were screaming from the pool, like to not touch him."

The mother picked up her child and took him into her room. He was later transported to the Halifax Health Medical Center, where police said he was diagnosed with blunt force trauma to his head. He is not expected to have long-term medical issues and was released on Monday, according to Daytona Beach police Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer.

"Absolutely devastating," Bentley added. "I don't even know how I react if that was my own."

The police affidavit says that Gilmore admitted to police that he held the child over the balcony but said nothing further.

Police said they notified the Department of Children and Families about the incident.

Gilmore is being held at the Volusia County Jail without bond.

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Florida man shoots and kills neighbors over dispute about basketball hoop; police say video proves it wasn't self-defense



Florida police say a man shot and killed his neighbors over a dispute about a basketball hoop, and the entire interaction was caught on surveillance video.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said in the arrest report that 63-year-old Norman Scott confronted his neighbors on May 4 and then shot them both at about 5:30 p.m. The victims were identified as Tara Marie Jones and Taylor Glenn Jones.

The altercation unfolded outside of the Jones' home on Galleria Street in the Black Diamond residential development in Wellington.

'There's a lot more to this case than we all know now.'

A witness told investigators that Scott admitted guilt to him after he asked the man whether he had heard anything.

"Don't worry, I shot them both," Scott allegedly told the witness.

Scott called 911 to report the shooting and claim that he shot in self-defense. He also allegedly told another witness that he had been attacked first.

Police, however, said that a surveillance video from Jones' camera showed one of the victims raising his hands in the air and backing away before Scott shot him three or four times. He then allegedly shot the woman and fired two more shots into the first victim as he walked away.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives said that "at no point during this encounter" was Taylor Jones acting in a threatening way toward Scott. They were able to recover expended cartridge cases from a 9mm gun near their bodies, and they found the gun inside of Scott's home on a table.

Scott was charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm. He is being held without bond at the Palm Beach County jail.

Scott's attorney, Brian Pakett, told WPTV-TV that he was a church-going man who worked as a mechanic.

"There are two people who are deceased," Pakett added. "It's extremely tragic. What I can tell you is, there's a lot more to this case than we all know now."

A friend of the victims told WPTV they had recently moved to Florida from the west coast. A GoFundMe account has been set up for the benefit of their four surviving children and has raised over $158k.

WPTV also reported that Scott had no previous criminal history.

Wellington is a village with a population of about 61,000 people located just west of West Palm Beach.

Here's a news report about the incident:

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Florida man arrested for allegedly firing his gun after finding drunk roommate naked in his teen​​ daughter's bed



A Florida man was arrested over a shooting that erupted after he found his drunken roommate in his teenage daughter's bed.

The incident unfolded on Wednesday morning in Coral Springs, Florida.

Dayne Victor Miller told police that he had been drinking heavily with a couple that rented a room at his home.

The male roommate excused himself to go the bathroom but ended up in the bed of Miller's daughter. She awoke to find the man next to her, and she went to tell her father.

The daughter did not “allege a crime had occurred against her," according to the Coral Springs Police, and the man told them he accidentally ended up in the bed.

The roommate's wife woke the man up and told him he was in the wrong bed, and they left to their room.

Miller, who was understandably upset, went to confront the couple and pounded on their door, when he found they had locked themselves in.

"I'll kill you!" he allegedly shouted at the couple.

Police said Miller fired his gun three to four times into the floor outside of the couple's door. He then called police to tell them that he had found the naked man in his daughter's bed.

Miller was arrested and booked into the Lee County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into an occupied dwelling.

One neighbor told WBBH-TV that she didn't even know a room was being rented in Miller's home.

“They’re nice people, so we’ve never really had any problems. What happened with his daughter and everything," said Monica Taylor, "that’s kind of disturbing,”

“It gets kind of concerning when guns are involved. I would feel pretty outraged myself,” said Mike Bolding, another neighbor.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Cape Coral father arrested for shooting after catching man naked in daughter's bed www.youtube.com

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Police video shows the moment a missing 13-year-old girl rushes to hug a deputy who rescued her from alleged online predator



A startling video captured the moment that a missing 13-year-old girl rushed to hug a deputy who rescued her from an alleged online predator.

The incident unfolded Thursday at the All Suite Motel in Edgewater, Florida.

The grandmother of the girl called police after she failed to arrive home in Oak Hill from school and didn't go to a basketball game she had planned to attend.

Deputy Royce James spoke to a friend of the girl who told him that she had planned to go to a motel with someone she had met online. The friend said that the man's name started with a T, possibly Tyler, might have been from Orlando, and that the girl might have met him at the Dollar General store in Oak Hill.

Deputy James was able to find surveillance images of the victim at the store, and an employee said that she had been waiting for someone outside the store.

When James searched the motels nearby, he eventually found a guest named Tyler from Orlando who had checked in that day.

When deputies knocked on the door, video captured the girl running to hug Deputy James.

The girl asked for James to stay with her while she went for evaluation at a local Department of Children and Families facility, and he remained with her. She was returned to her family after the evaluation.

Tyler Thompson, 22, was charged with interference with child custody and also with traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.

He was released on $15,000 bond, but authorities say further charges against him are pending.

Here's the harrowing video of the incredible rescue:

Volusia deputy rescues missing girl at motel: 2/18/21www.youtube.com