The 25 Worst Things to Happen in Florida in 2012

For reasons that escape us, the state of Florida has produced, on a consistent basis, some of the worst headlines in America. It's inexplicable; do crazy people flock there, or is it something about the state that just possesses them?

Not a month went by where we weren't shaking our heads at something that happened in the Sunshine State. In a year where bath salts were alarmingly popular and a "zombie apocalypse" really seemed possible, we figured we'd be left jaded by Florida's propensity for the awful at some point. That moment never arrived.

With the year drawing to a close, we feel obligated to recall the 25 worst things to happen in Florida in 2012. Some are ridiculous, some are national tragedies, but they're all bad.

This is not a celebration.

Written by Julian Kimble (@JRK316).

City: Sanford, FL
Date: Feburary 2012

One of 2012's biggest news stories began on the night of February 26 in Sanford, FL. Trayvon Martin, 17, was returning to his father's home following a trip to 7-Eleven when he encountered 28-year-old George Zimmerman. The self-appointed neighborhood watch leader began following Martin, noting that he looked "suspicious." Zimmerman continued to follow Martin, though he was explicitly told not to by 911 dispatchers. According to Zimmerman, Martin confronted him, breaking his nose with a punch before slamming his head into the concrete. He claims Martin reach for the gun, prompting Zimmerman to shot him. Martin was struck by Zimmerman's bullet in the chest and killed. All the teen had on his person at the time of his murder was an Arizona iced tea and a bag of Skittles.

What happened that night is still unclear, as there only two people who know the full story, and one of them is no longer living. Once the media caught wind of the story, there was national outrage as to why Zimmerman was permitted to remain free for so long, despite the many questions surrounding his story.

He was eventually arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Not long after he posted bail, Zimmerman was ordered back to jail after a Florida court determined that he had lied about his financial situation. He was released once again to a safe house, but ordered to wear a GPS tracking device. Zimmerman is invoking the state's "Stand Your Ground Law," though he told Sean Hannity that he was unaware of the law on the night of the shooting.

The public was split, with some rushing to hang Zimmerman in effigy for profiling and murdering an unarmed teenager, and others attempting to demonize Martin in an order to justify Zimmerman's actions. The truth of the matter is that, for the moment, the worst has already happened: Two parents buried their teenage son.

Zimmerman will stand before a jury in June 2013. Hopefully, all that's in the dark will come to light.

City: Miami Beach, FL
Date: February 2012

26-year-old aspiring fireman Brian Gentles claims that he was harassed—both sexually and because of his race—but was instructed not to complain. When he finally did complain, in February, he was fired.

The most disgusting part of the situation, aside from Gentles allegedly being called a "nigger" on more than one occasion by fellow aspiring firefighter Daniel Fiorito (who eventually became a firefighter), is that Gentles was allegedly teabagged on multiple occasions by Fiorito.

The tension came to a head in September 2011, when Gentles beasted on an important firefighter challenge, placing second. Fiorito, who finished far behind, reportedly approached Gentles, called him a "stupid nigger" and challenged him to a fight. Gentles met with superiors a week later and an official investigation was launched.

However, when Gentles was prepared to give an official recorded statement on the matter in December 2011, he was told not to "snitch," or else he would be terminated. Gentles backtracked out of fear of losing his job, but was still fired in February without explanation. Gentles filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and blew his entire life savings on legal fees to fight his termination. He was denied unemployment benefits by the city for seven months, and was unable to afford his apartment. Suddenly homeless, he was forced to live out of his car while still paying lawyers $400 an hour to fight his case.

In November, the city agreed to a mediation and Gentles was offered $100,000 and a 19-month position as a fire inspector. Gentles reluctantly signed the deal, but the retired fire chief who was supposed to supervise him has backed out of the deal. Gentles is still seeking justice, and employment.

[via Miami New Times]

City: Palm Beach County, FL
Date: April 2012

Millionaire John Goodman, 48, who founded the International Polo Club Palm Beach, went to great lengths to avoid jail time after killing a young man while driving drunk in 2010. In a sad attempt to protect his wealth, Goodman adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend Heather Ann Hutchins. Goodman had already established a $300 million trust for his two biological children, and adopting Hutchins would give her a portion of the trust. Goodman's own family opposed the adoption, and lawyers representing his teenage children filed a lawsuit to prevent their new sister from receiving any of the money.

Goodman agreed to pay $46 million to the family of 23-year-old Scott Wilson, who he killed while driving drunk in Wellington in 2010. Goodman faces 30 years in prison for DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

[via Huffington Post]

City: Jacksonville, FL
Date: May 2012

Yolanda Stills, 43, was arrested after stabbing her fiancé to death with a 10-inch blade because he wouldn't give her a cigarette. Ricardo McMillian, 56, was found in the front yard of the couple's home; police took him to a hospital, where he later died. Stills and McMillan had been living together for four months prior to his murder.

Prior to this incident, Stills had been arrested 34 times. She had just been released from jail in January for violating her probation.

City: Miami, FL
Date: May 2012

Memorial Day Weekend changed the landscape of 2012, ushering in paranoia about a possible "Zombie Apocalypse." Halfway through the year, 31-year-old Rudy Eugene was shot to death by Miami police officers after he was discovered completely naked and chewing Ronald Poppo's face off. Seventy-five to eighty percent of Poppo's face was missing; medical professionals were convinced that Eugene was under the influence of the hallucinogenic drug known as "bath salts" at the time of the attack. However, many were shocked when full toxicology reports returned showing that the only drug in Eugene's system was marijuana.

Eugene was tested for several drugs, but the only one "found within the limits of current technology by both laboratories" was marijuana. Everyone was left confused and frightened as tales of cannibalism sprang up nationwide during the summer of 2012.

City: Orlando, FL
Date: May 2012

Someone in Orlando with the audacity to call himself a "businessman" began selling Trayvon Martin-inspired shooting targets, complete with a black hoodie, Skittles, and iced tea.

The pig selling them was a George Zimmerman-supporter who believes Zimmerman "shot a thug," but even Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, denounced the targets thinking that they'd hurt his case. The worst part about the story? The targets reportedly sold out in two days.

City: Jacksonville, FL
Date: May 2012

Florida's Stand Your Ground Law reared its controversial head on multiple occassions in 2012, but it couldn't save Jacksonville mother Marissa Alexander. Alexander, 31, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing what she says was a "warning shot" into the wall of her home following a physical altercation with her husband, Rico Gray.

In a sworn November 2010 deposition, Gray said that he and Alexander got into a physical fight in August 2010 after he found text messages sent to her first husband on her phone. Gray attempted to block Alexander into the bathroom of their home, but she escaped and fled to the garage. Gray says she returned with gun and ordered him to leave, but he refused. In his deposition, he said Alexander fired once into air, forcing him and the children present to flee. However, when he called 911 on the day of the incident, he claimed that she pointed the gun at him and the children.

In August 2011, a judge rejected a motion by Alexander's attorney's to invoke Stand Your Ground, saying that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Alexander reasonably used deadly force to prevent death or harm to herself. Even though no one was injured, Alexander was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and because a firearm was discharged, the case fell under the "10-20-life" law, which mandates a 20 year sentence for the use of a gun during certain crimes.

Alexander was offered a three-year-deal if she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, which she rejected because she did not feel she'd done anything wrong. During her trial, the jury reached a verdict of guilty in less than 15 minutes.

[via CBS News]

City: Palmetto, FL
Date: June 2012

Another "zombie attack" occurred in Florida when 26-year-old Charles Baker stormed into his girlfriend's house, ripped his clothes off, began screaming, and bit a chunk of flesh out of 48-year-old Jeffrey Blake's arm. Blake was attempting to restrain Baker, who was supposed to be visiting his children at the home. Police had to use a Taser on Baker twice in order to subdue him, and many speculated he was under the influence of an unnamed substance at the time of the attack.

Considering the time period, many were quick to speculate that the drug was bath salts. More likely, he was high on "crazy."

City: Orlando, FL
Date: June 2012

11-year-old Ashton Jojo, who was visiting Orlando from New York with her family, was killed after being electrocuted while trying to retrieve a ball from a pond at a miniature golf course. Jojo shrieked in pain as soon as she stepped into the 2-foot-deep pond. Fellow Orange Lake Resort guest Christopher Burges was injured while trying to rescue her.

Soon after arriving at Florida Hospital Celebration, Jojo was pronounced dead. A building safety department official says that the electrocution was the result of a faulty pump being connected to a bad circuit breaker.

[via CBS News]

City: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Date: July 2012

26-year-old Justin Blake Mitchell was arrested following a summer crime spree. He pistol-whipped a woman and stole multiple belongings from her home, stole a man's debit card at gunpoint, and robbed another woman; but somewhere in between he held a 7-year-old boy at gunpoint and forced him to smoke weed.

Mitchell was slapped with several charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse, and possession of marijuana. Hell, he was even charged with grand theft of a firearm because the gun was stolen.

City: Largo, FL
Date: July 2012

57-year-old puppeteer Ronald Brown was arrested after federal agents discovered that he had been chatting online with child pornography suspects about kidnapping, torturing, and killing children. Though his website promises "grins and giggles" for children, Brown allegedly said he wanted to tie a child up, lock him in a closet, and eat him for Easter supper. That's just one example.

In another conversation, he reportedly said that his "mouth watered" at the sight of a female toddler. Police searched his home in July and found CDs full of photographs of dead children and kids in bondage positions. He reportedly told FBI agents that he wanted to eat a boy he'd met at church.

Brown, who lives near several playgrounds and regularly invited children over for pizza, was arrested and charged with conspiring to kidnap a child and possession of child pornography.

[via Huffington Post]

City: Port St. Joe, FL
Date: July 2012

59-year-old Walton Henry Butler was arrested in July after shooting 32-year-old Everett Gant in the head with a .22 caliber rifle. If you ask Butler, as police did, it isn't a big deal because "he only shot a nigger."

Grant confronted Butler, who had been accused of using racial slurs against children in his apartment complex, when Butler shot him in the head before calmly returning to his apartment to finish his dinner. He was at least kind enough to call 911, but when authorities showed up at his door, he acted like they were bothering him because he had simply "shot a nigger."

Grant was expected to survive, but passed away as a result of his injuries. Butler was charged with attempted murder and a hate crime.

City: Port Richey, FL
Date: August 2012

Crystal Rusaw, 24, was arrested over the summer for leaving her three children at home unattended so she could have sex with her neighbor. Her children, 4-years-old, 3-years-old, and 10-months-old, were home for hours. One soiled herself, then attempted to cross a four-lane highway at 5 a.m. The oldest child held the youngest while dodging cars and crossing the highway. A concerned driver called the police and Rusaw was arrested.

City: Sanford, FL
Date: September 2012

Michael Jones, 42, was arrested for beating his live-in girlfriend with her own dog. The two got into an argument, and when the woman attempted to drive off, Jones began swinging the poor animal in the air like a weapon. Then, he choked her before fleeing on a bike with the dog.

He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief, strangulation and animal cruelty. Thankfully, neither the woman nor the dog were seriously injured.

City: Margate, FL
Date: September 2012

A loss-prevention employee was shot and killed at a Walmart while trying to stop a suspect who allegedly stole $16 worth of undershirts. 22-year-old Terrell Johnson attempted to steal the package of undershirts, and 49-year-old Lewis Jhon attempted to detain him. During the struggle, Jhon was shot near the store's entrance.

Jhon was pronounced dead at North Broward Medical Center. Police found Johnson's body a few blocks away from the Walmart, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Jhon, a retired corrections officer from New York, had worked at the Walmart for three years. He was only present that day to shop with his wife.

[via NBC Miami]

City: Deerfield Beach, FL
Date: October 2012

In October, 32-year-old Edward Archbold died just minutes after winning an insect-eating contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store. After being crowned the winner, Archbold became ill and reportedly began vomiting up cockroaches before passing out.

The Broward County Medical Examiner says that his official cause of death was "asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents." In other words, he choked to death on roach parts, which not only carry bacteria, but are essentially like swallowing razor blades.

City: Tampa, FL
Date: October 2012

26-year-old Donnie McLendon died in October after what police originally believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound incurred during a game of Russian Roulette. At first, his friends Thomas Rady and David McKee said that an intruder had shot McLendon, but further investigation left them convinced that the 28-year-old Rady was holding the gun when it discharged. Rady turned himself in after being charged with manslaughter.

City: Oldsmar, FL
Date: October 2012

Bath salts were all the rage this year, playing a role in too many tragic events. 18-year-old Benjamin Bishop, who has a history of mental issues and bath salts-use, killed his mother, Imari Shibata, and her live-in boyfriend, Kelley Allen, with a sawed-off shotgun following an argument over prescription pills.

Bishop, who had just come home from a 10-month stint in rehab, called police immediately after committing the murders. Bishop was reportedly upset about taking the medication, which he was convinced was "killing him." He pawned electronics to purchase the gun for $279.

City: The Whole Damn State
Date: November 2012

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, forever stuck in situations where he has to explain himself, stood by his decision to not extend early voting hours, even though some people waited for as long as nine hours to cast a ballot. Former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who reanimated himself as an independent, accused Scott of "voter suppression," saying Scott should've extended poll hours as he did back in 2008 when he was still governor.

When Election Day finally came, things didn't improve, as some voters in Miami-Dade county waited as long as six hours. Voting finally ended at 1:30 a.m. the morning after the election, when President Obama had already been declared the winner. Although Mitt Romney had conceded the state on the Thursday following the election, by that Friday afternoon, Florida still had not been called for Obama.

Scott and the state's GOP-led legislature have been criticized for shrinking the number of early voting days from 14 to 8, and also crowding the ballot with confusing, long-form amendments. The lines led to more absentee ballots, which took longer to count. Scott's mishandling of the 2012 vote may have cost him votes when he goes up for re-election in 2014.

[via Huffington Post]

City: Key West, FL
Date: November 2012

64-year-old tanning salon owner Henry Hamilton was found dead in his condo next to bottles of Xanax and Seroquel, and his will, which read: "Fuck Obama." His partner Michael Cossey found his body and said that he was depressed after President Obama's re-election.

We don't know the extent of Hamilton's struggles, but this seems extreme. The election isn't worth your life. However, this didn't surprise Paul Mooney.

City: Melbourne, FL
Date: November 2012

28-year-old Christopher Castillo was arrested after saying, on Facebook, that he was going to "hunt down" and "kill" President Obama a few days after he was re-elected. A friend warned him that these threats could land him in trouble, but the defiant Castillo said he didn't care, going so far as to ask the Secret Service to come after him. So they did.

While in custody, Castillo expressed his anger with Obama's views on health care and called the president a "terrorist." When are we going to drop that?

Castillo's father said that the married father of three was in the Air Force and thought that his Facebook account was private. Sure.

City: Tallahassee, FL
Date: November 2012

There was far too much Walmart violence this year, particularly in Florida. It's a shame that Black Friday violence is anticipated. Still, things got exceptionally ugly this year when two people were shot in the parking lot of a Tallahassee Walmart during an apparent argument over a parking space.

Witnesses reported seeing two couples arguing, then seeing a man pull out a weapon and open fire. The two victims were taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. You can't even shop in peace anymore.

City: Jacksonville, FL
Date: November 2012

Last month, 45-year-old Michael Dunn (first image) shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis (second image) at a gas station during an argument over the volume of the music coming from the vehicle carrying Davis. Dunn claims that he acted in self-defense, and legal experts expect him to invoke the state's "Stand Your Ground Law," the same law George Zimmerman is leaning on.

Dunn and his girlfriend were in town to attend his son's wedding, and Davis and a group of friends were returning from a local mall. Both parties ended up at the same local gas station, where both Dunn and Davis' girlfriends went inside to make purchases.

Dunn and Davis got into an argument over the volume of the music, which culminated with Dunn firing eight or nine shots, fatally striking Davis. Dunn and his girlfriend fled the scene, claiming they were convinced they had encountered "gang members." Dunn's attorney claims that her client acted out of fear for his life, and that he only opened fire because he allegedly saw a gun barrel through the window of the teen's vehicle. There was no weapon found inside of the teen's SUV at the scene.

City: Port Richey, FL
Date: November 2012

28-year-old Thomas Matheson was watching a 2-year-old boy while the child's mother was at work. Matheson admitted to playing "rough" with the boy, but that doesn't explain how he managed to twist the child's nipples so hard that the skin came off. The boy's grandmother came home and made the shocking discovery.

The boy was taken to the hospital where doctors said it is "unlikely" that his nipples will grow back.

City: Tallahassee, FL
Date: November 2012

Though Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion died after being beaten on a bus in Orlando during a hazing ritual in November 2011, the ugliness played out in the media during 2012. Champion, 26, was engaged in a ritual known as crossing the bus, where pledges attempt to run down the center aisle while being attacked. Charges were brought against 13 band members, the band director was suspended, and university president James Ammons resigned on the day that Champion's family filed a lawsuit against the university.

The Champions sued FAMU, the bus company, and the driver in wrongful death suits. In September, the university responded to the lawsuit, blaming Champion for his own death, saying that he broke the law when he took part in the hazing ritual that killed him. They offered the Champion's a $300,000 settlement, which the family promptly rejected.

Last month, FAMU asked a judge to dismiss the case because Champion was aware of what he was doing. The case has forced many universities to re-evaluate their hazing processes, but only time will tell if Champion's death truly resonates.

[via News One]