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Features
Guns Found In Car Involved In Deadly Shooting
JYHAAD D. GRANT 12/4/1992 —- 1/1/2018
On Monday night, two Tampa residents were killed during an exchange of gunfire. They were killed after a gun battle erupted that involved two armed security guards.
As the investigation by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office continues, new informa- tion has been released.
According to police, two guns were discovered inside the vehicle where 15-year-old Julissa D. Jackson and 25- year-old Jyhaad D. Grant died. Detectives said prelimi- nary evidence suggests that both weapons were fired at the scene.
The guns were a 9 mm pis- tol and a .380 caliber handgun. The guns were discovered after detectives executed a search warrant on the vehicle. It was impounded at the scene.
An unidentified individual hosted a teen night at “The Club,” 5809 N. 50th Street. It was slated to take place be- tween 8 p.m., and midnight. The facility is a storage build- ing rented out for events.
At some point during the evening, several fights took place inside the event causing the organizers to close the door around 10:45 p.m. After the doors were closed between 150
JULISSA D. JACKSON 6/2/2002 —- 1/1/2018
and 200 people were leaving the event when the armed se- curity guards first heard fire- works and then gunshots.
The licensed, armed guards have been identified as Keyon Williams, 28, and Connor Harm, 18. Both men have State of Florida Statewide Firms “G” and State of Florida Security Officer “D” License.
Both individuals worked for AJ Cardinal Group, LLC, doing business as Eagle One Security.
Police said that while Williams and Harm were trying to determine where the gunshots were coming from, they saw an individual firing a weapon from a car and they both returned gunfire.
Officials have not deter- mined if any other occupants were in the car. No charges have been filed, however, the investigation is continuing.
Both Ms. Jackson and Grant died at the scene. Ms. Jackson was the mother of a 2-month-old son and Grant was the father of a 2-month- old daughter.
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Medical Exam- iner’s Office neither family has selected a funeral home to handle arrangements.
Woman Given 40 Years For Fraud, Facing 85 Years In Murder Plot
In October, a federal judge sentenced a 52-year- old Priscilla Ellis, of Killen, Texas, to serve 40 years in prison on fraud charges.
On Thursday, she was set to appear for sentencing in a murder-for-hire conviction. She “hired” an undercover FBI agent to kill one witness and murder the mother of another who had testified against her in the fraud case. She is facing a maximum of an additional 85 years in fed- eral prison.
In October 2016, a federal jury convicted Ms. Ellis of conspiracy to commit inter- national money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Ms. Ellis was in the Pinellas County Jail after being found guilty of the fraud charges. She allegedly solicited other inmates to help her find a hit man to murder several wit- nesses who had testified against her during the fraud trial.
Under her direction, a family member paid the hit man a down payment on the murder contracts with the balance to be paid after the murders.
In March 2017, a jury found her guilty of murder- for-hire, retaliating against a witness, and conspiring to create counterfeit securities.
MS. PRISCILLA ANN ELLIS
Ms. Ellis intended to pay for the murders by conspir- ing with a Nigerian-based counterfeiter to create coun- terfeit cashier’s checks, use stolen identification to open new accounts and deposit the money in new accounts, offi- cials said.
In addition to the 40 years Ms. Ellis was sen- tenced to in 2016, the Court also entered a money judg- ment in the amount of $9,288,241.36 and restitu- tion in the amount of $3,767,196 against her.
She was also court or- dered to forfeit various as- sets, including her bank accounts, properties, and a luxury vehicle.
According to evidence presented at trial, Ms. Ellis, her attorney, Perry Don Cortese, and her daughter, Ms. Kenietta Rayshawn Johnson, were members of an international criminal or-
ganization that defrauded dozens of victims across the United States and then laun- dered the funds, much of which were sent overseas.
The fraud schemes took several forms. Many victims were law firms solicited on- line to perform legal work, provided counterfeit cashier’s checks for deposit into the firms’ trust accounts, and then directed to wire money to third-party shell businesses controlled by the conspirators.
Others were title compa- nies defrauded in phony real estate transactions. Other victims were targeted and de- frauded by fake suitors on dating websites. The conspir- acy also employed hackers who compromised both indi- vidual and corporate e-mail accounts, ordering wire transfers from brokerage and business accounts to shell ac- counts controlled by conspir- ators.
Cortese, a licensed at- torney in Texas, worked for the conspirators by launder- ing victim’s money through his interest on lawyers trust accounts (“IOLTAs”).
The evidence further showed that Ms. Johnson, then a bank employee at Capital One, helped create counterfeit checks and mon- itor money between accounts controlled by the conspira- tors.
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