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Features
Trial Begins For Woman Accused Of Burying Guns In Death Investigation
JAYQUON JOHNSON 7/8/1999 to 1/1/2017
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Jury selection in the trial of a woman whose teenage son admitted to fatally shoot- ing another teenager begins on Monday (Oct.2). She was arrested in connection with the death and charged with two counts of tampering with physical evidence. She was arrested in April 2017.
Prosecutors attempted to resolve the case by offering Ms. Heidi Quinn, 52, a deal. However, she rejected the plea bargain, officials said.
On January 1st, the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Of- fice responded to a shooting in the 4500 block of Cabbage Palm Drive, in Valrico. When deputies arrived, they discov- ered that 17-year-old Jayquon Johnson had been shot. He died as a result of his injuries.
Cody Quinn admitted to shooting Johnson and claimed self-defense. Police said the shooting was the re- sult of a drug transaction that had gone awry.
Police stated in charging affidavits that Johnson had gone to purchase marijuana from Quinn and both were armed. Quinn alleged that Johnson attempted to rob him and he shot in self-de- fense. The shooting took place in the garage of the home.
When detectives arrived at the scene, they found two guns. However, the detectives found dirt on both handguns. They learned that Ms.
HEIDI QUINN
... Mother of shooter to go on trial
CODY QUINN
... Claimed self-defense in deadly shooting
Quinn, the mother of Cody Quinn, had allegedly taken both guns and buried them. She then retrieved the guns and put them back in the garage.
After obtaining a search warrant, police found drugs inside the home. Cody Quinn was charged with felony possession with the in- tent to sell, drug trafficking, and possession of drug para- phernalia. He was also charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm, which is a misdemeanor.
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office de- clined to charge Quinn in connection with Johnson’s death.
Johnson was a sopho- more at Brandon High School. Quinn was a sopho- more at Bloomingdale High School.
Standing at 6’10,” John- son was a starting member of the Brandon High School Basketball Team.
He was the son of Ms. Kennishia Doyle-Ander- son and Johnny Johnson, Sr. A Tampa native, John- son attended the public schools of Hillsborough County.
Inmate Discovers Talent And Love Of Writing
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
David Leon Smith, Jr.,
says he didn’t have an easy life growing up in College Hill Homes. And, as a result of that, he made some bad deci- sions.
Smith said he witnessed a lot of violence in the streets while growing up. “Since the age of 14, I have been in and out of the system. It took my third prison term to realize that I can put my thoughts and ideas together on paper and write a very interesting tale.”
Once he realized that he possessed the talent of being a storyteller, Smith decided to write about his hometown and allowed his imagination to create “Rell.” “Rell” is the first of many other novels he plans to commit to paper.
And, while he realizes
DAVID LEON SMITH, JR. ... Releases first book
that prison is not a good place to be, he decided to use it as an opportunity to
broaden his own mind. Today, he has read more than 100 books, he said.
“Rell” captures the vio- lent side of town and tells the story of a young, innocent girl killed when two rivals come face-to-face to settle their beef.
Smith said, “When I fin- ished the book, I didn’t want to stop writing and I hope that I can inspire others to put their minds to work to achieve their goals in life. To those who are incarcerated, I always go by the saying, ‘the government can trap the body, but they can’t trap the mind.”
Anyone interested in or- dering “Rell,” can visit Amazon.com and type in rell- king-david. Anyone with comments or have questions can reach Smith via Face- book/publichousingpublica- tions@gmail.com.
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