Eddie Jerome Scott, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to federal armed drug trafficking charges after Gainesville Police discovered more than 1,200 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana, and a pistol at his home during a September 2025 search. Scott, who was barred from possessing firearms due to prior felony drug convictions, faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of life in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for September 1, 2026.
Sources: Mainstreet Daily News · WCJB TV20
A toddler in Florida died after a babysitter reportedly left the child unattended in a hot vehicle, according to reporting by The Gainesville Sun. The incident, which involves a child victim of a fatal accident in a caregiver’s care, is under investigation.
Sources: The Gainesville Sun
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies have charged 21-year-old Mikale Fuye with armed robbery in connection with a May 10 holdup at a Circle K on Southeast Hawthorne Road southeast of Gainesville. Investigators say Fuye and a second suspect entered the store, held employees at gunpoint, and fled with cash from the register. Fuye was already in custody on unrelated burglary charges stemming from a vehicle pursuit and crash when the robbery charge was added Monday.
Sources: WCJB TV20
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office wrote close to 900 speeding citations last month in a summer school zone, with more than 200 issued in the first week alone near Wiles Elementary and Kanapaha Middle School. Citation numbers climbed over the following weeks, with 125 tickets handed out in just the final two days of summer school. The zone is among several where speed cameras were installed earlier this year; each violation carries a $100 fine.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 26-year-old Michelle Bartholomew on Saturday after witnesses called 911 reporting she tried to strike a man with her vehicle on Southwest 21st Lane. She fled deputies with two young children inside her car before deputies called off the pursuit, and she was taken into custody after attempting to jump from a bridge. Bartholomew faces charges including two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of child abuse, aggravated assault on law enforcement, and aggravated fleeing and eluding.
Sources: WCJB TV20
A Marion County man, Mike Anthony Jones Jr., 26, received the maximum 30-year prison sentence for the second-degree murder of his grandfather, William Pray, during a domestic dispute on Dec. 26, 2022. Jones argued he acted in self-defense after witnessing Pray strike his mother, but witnesses told investigators he was not present for the initial altercation and detectives found no justification for the shooting. A first trial ended without a verdict; a second jury returned a guilty finding.
Sources: WCJB TV20
