Page 41 - Florida Sentinel 12-10-21

Crime
Candlelight Vigil Planned For Slain Nursing Student
Tampa Rapper
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A Candlelight Vigil will be held for a 21-year-old woman killed last Wednesday as she drove near the intersection of W. Grace Street and Delaware Avenue. The vigil will take place on Friday, December 10th, at 8 p. m. at the location of the fatal shooting.
Ms. Savannah Mathis
was critically injured and died last Friday. Another young woman in the vehicle was in- jured, but survived.
According to the Tampa Police Department, the shoot- ing took place shortly after 8 p. m. When police arrived, they located the women who both suffered gunshot wounds and both were transported to local hospitals.
The family said in a social media post, “We are so broken and want justice not just for her, but for ALL THE VIC- TIMS that have lost their lives to senseless violence.
“Our baby girl did not de- serve what they did to her! We want justice and we want it now! This is the start to help put an end to gun violence.”
The family is also encour- aging others who have lost loved ones to violence to at- tend the event.
Program at the University of Florida. She was also an avid Gators fan, her aunt said.
She was a member of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens and loved singing, being goofy, and sampling dif- ferent types of foods.
Ms. Mathis loved chil- dren and worked at the em- ployee’s daycare at Tampa General Hospital. She also worked as a surgical assistant at the hospital.
“She was the light of our family and she loved kids. They were going to pick up food. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ms. Williams said.
Funeral Services for Ms. Mathis were incomplete at press time.
A Go Fund Me account has been established for Ms. Mathis at https://www.go- fundme.com/f/wjnt6-justice- forsavannah.
The investigation into the shooting is continuing. Police are asking anyone with infor- mation about the shooting to contact the Tampa Police De- partment at (813) 231-6130; or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS; or re- port online at www.crimestop- perstb.com. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $5,000.
Destroying Evidence
MS. SAVANNAH MATHIS ... Did not survive her injuries
Ms. Brandi Williams, aunt of Ms. Mathis said Ms. Mathis was the eldest of two daughters born to Ms. LaMaria Smith.
She was the granddaugh- ter of Ms. April Moreno, owner of C. J.’s Barbecue, the CEO of the restaurant, and the great granddaughter of the late Rev. John Stephens, founder of Big John’s Ala- bama Barbecue.
Ms. Mathis was a 2018 honor graduate of Plant High School. With a 5.0 grade point average, Ms. Mathis was en- rolled in the Nursing Program at Hillsborough Community College.
She was a sophomore an- ticipating graduation and had plans to enroll in the Nursing
A Tampa rapper is being held in a Columbia County jail on charges of manslaugh- ter and destroying evidence. He is being held without bond.
Javonte Wilkins, 29, is accused of killing a man on November 14th, and dumping his body beside a road in Hamilton County.
A news account out of Co- lumbia County said Wilkins confessed to Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies of the incident.
JAVONTE WILKINS ...Arrested in Columbia County
Arrested For Murder,
Federal Jury Convicts Man Of Theft Of Government Funds
Postal Clerk Sentenced For Stealing Mail, Fraud
A federal jury has found Barry Wayne Hoover, 50, of Tampa guilty of theft of gov- ernment funds and making a false statement to a federal agency. Hoover faces a max- imum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 2022.
Hoover had been indicted on January 30, 2020.
According to evidence pre- sented at trial, Hoover, a vet- eran of the United States Navy, exaggerated the extent of his visual impairment in order to receive U. S. Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits to which he was not entitled. Hoover ma- nipulated the results of sub- jective tests of his peripheral vision to reflect that he had only a five-degree visual field and was legally blind. The VA found that Hoover was 100% disabled based on those ma- nipulated tests.
Additionally, during a recorded phone call, Hoover falsely stated to the VA that he is not able to drive himself, has someone drive for him,
and had last driven a few months previously – but only down the street, for about three blocks, during daytime.
Despite his claimed limited peripheral vision and his statements to the VA, surveil- lance, video footage, social media posts, and other evi- dence showed Hoover had no such limitations – without assistance, he readily per- formed activities of daily life such as shopping and driving a car, in addition to operating a three-wheeled motorcycle, an ATV, and a boat.
Authorities also observed him mowing his lawn, operat- ing power tools such as a chain saw, hunting, fishing, and scuba diving, all also with- out assistance. Expert testi- mony at trial established that an individual with the five-de- gree visual field Hoover claimed could not drive and would be reliant on a white cane to function in public.
As a result of his misrepre- sentations, Hoover received approximately $429,569.09 in VA benefits to which he was not entitled.
A 31-year-old Ruskin woman has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. She was charged with conspir- acy to commit bank fraud, ag- gravated identity theft, and theft of a postal key.
According to court docu- ments, Ms. Jasmine Wynne, a Postal Clerk with the United States Postal Serv- ice (USPS) at the St. Peters- burg Retail Post Office location, conspired with oth- ers to defraud federally in- sured financial institutions. She used her status and the special access she had as a USPS employee to open First- Class mail and to photograph personal identifying informa-
JASMINE WYNNE
tion (“PII”) and bank account information.
Ms. Wynne then for- warded the photographs to co- conspirators for use in a bank fraud scheme. Ms. Wynne
also photographed United States Passport applications that were processed at her post office location to gain ap- plicants’ PII and bank account information. She then for- warded that information to co-conspirators.
In addition, she used her position as a USPS employee to access and steal restricted postal arrow keys – special master keys that open USPS collection boxes, banks of mailboxes at apartment com- plexes, and any other mailbox keyed with an arrow lock.
Ms. Wynne then pro- vided the postal arrow keys to co-conspirators for use in the charged conspiracy.
UNCLE SANDY
You are confined only by, 5, 19, 29, 46, 50, the walls you build yourself, 8, 15, 21, 33, 58.
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