Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 12-27-16 Online Edition

Military
Airman With Ties To Tampa Graduates From Basic Training
Airman 1st Class Bradley M. Coant recently graduated from basic military training as a member of the U. S. Air Force. His graduation ceremony was held at the Joint Base San Anto- nio-Lackland, in San Antonio, Texas.
Airman 1st Class Coant completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and stud- ies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
He also earned four credits toward an associate in applied sci- ence degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Airman 1st Class Coant is the son of Anita L. and Michael W. Coant and brother of Brittany N. Coant, all of Tampa.
He is a 2009 graduate of Alonso High School, and earned an associate degree in 2014 from Hillsborough Community College.
Naval Officer With Ties To Bay Area Works With Orphanage
SHICHINOHE, Japan —- Petty Officer 2nd Class Freddy Sosa, of Amarillo, Texas, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Kayla Proper, of Tampa, both attached to Naval Air Facility Misawa (NAFM) fold origami with children from the Bikoen Orphanage in Shichi- nohe, Japan. NAFM travels to the orphanage annually to play with the children and distribute gifts for the holiday season. (U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Samuel Weldin/Re- leased)
Crime
Couple Jailed After 5 Malnourished Children Found Living In Car
GREENACRES —- Two adults were arrested after a deputy found five malnour- ished children living in a ve- hicle, including a 14-year-old boy who weighed only 50 pounds, according to an ar- rest report.
Donell Barron, 34, and Rikki Hart, 34, are being held in the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $1,000 bail. Both are facing five counts of child neglect.
The relationship between Barron, Hart and the chil- dren — ages 14, 8, 6, 5 and 4 — is blacked out in the police report.
A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy found Bar- ron, Hart and the five chil- dren inside a Toyota in the Walmart parking lot. The area is plagued by crime and narcotics activity, according to the report.
As the deputy ap- proached the Toyota, he de- tected a strong odor “similar to that of homeless camps.”
Barron told the deputy the family lost their home in Port St. Lucie a year ago and had lived at hotels until run- ning out of money, forcing them to live inside the car for about two months. Bar- ron said the children bathed irregularly at Okeeheelee Park and had never enrolled in school. Instead, the chil- dren were home-schooled inside the vehicle, Barron said.
Each of the five children
DONELL BARRON
were termed in the report to be underweight, except for the 14-year-old who was “se- verely underweight to the point that his bones were clearly visible.” The boy stands 4 feet 5 inches and weighed only 5 pounds more than his 8-year-old sibling, according to the report.
Deputies were told that the children ate about once a day and only salad and bread. The children had not seen a doctor in “years,” the report said.
The children were taken to Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee and are in the custody of the Florida De- partment of Children and Families. Greenacres Fire Rescue personnel told deputies that one of the chil- dren — presumably the 14- year-old boy — was emaciated and had unusu- ally high blood pressure for somebody his age and
RIKKI HART
stature.
Court records from St.
Lucie County show the fam- ily was evicted twice from residences in Port St. Lucie.
The report states that, unlike the children, Barron and Hart seemed clean and in good health.
While being questioned by PBSO, Barron made a series of bizarre statements. Barron said he is Native American with a given name as well as a “corporate” name while adding that he is “not property of the U. S. or any corporation.” Barron added that he practices law “but not as a lawyer.”
The couple began a blog in 2014 called “Holistically Beautiful” in which they said they had “been coaching oth- ers to live balanced lives for 10 years.” It included links to services regarding child- birth, healthy eating and managing personal finances.
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2016