Jacksonville Beach

A drunken driver fatally struck a pedestrian Saturday night and drove for a half-mile with the man’s “mangled corpse” in the passenger seat of his car, Texas court records allege. Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, of Austin, is charged with manslaughter, an accident involving injury and multiple traffic offenses, according to Travis County Jail records. He is being held in lieu of bail set at $110,000. Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic details.  An arrest affidavit obtained by the Austin American Statesman states that witnesses told police they saw a man in a white 2014 Ford Focus hit a pedestrian around 10:30 p.m. Saturday on a South Austin roadway and keep going. The Ford was speeding and traveling without headlights, the witnesses told detectives. The victim’s body was thrown through the windshield, authorities said. A shopping cart the pedestrian was pushing struck a nearby cluster of mailboxes. “The impact with the vehicle pushed the cart into a cluster of mailboxes with enough force to bend a 2-inch diameter, galvanized steel post that supported mailboxes,” the affidavit says. The driver, later identified as Garcia, was next spotted parking the car south of the crash site. He then walked calmly to the nearby South Austin Beer Garden, barefoot and “in a manner that caught the attention of the other patrons,” the Statesman reported. David Pearce, co-owner of the beer garden, told Fox7 in Austin that surveillance cameras from the business caught footage of Garcia crawling out of a drainage ditch out front and approaching the building. See footage from the beer garden below, courtesy of the news station.  Workers were immediately suspicious because Garcia “obviously looked distraught,” Pearce told the news station. They refused him service, but kept him calm and at the beer garden until police arrived. “He was definitely looking for a place to hide and who knows?” Pearce said. When officers arrived, they found a gruesome scene. The victim’s “mangled corpse” was found in the front passenger seat of the Focus and, according to the affidavit, Garcia had evidence on him that matched “the blood and body tissue found coated in the interior of the vehicle.” >> Related story: ‘Blitzed’ drunken driver fled with torso of hit-and-run victim in car, police say Debris -- including body parts and pieces of Garcia’s car -- littered the roadway from the point of impact to his stopping point a half-mile away, the Statesman reported. There were no skid marks on the road to indicate Garcia hit the brakes before striking the man, whose name has not been released. Officers conducted a sobriety test at the scene and arrested Garcia on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, the newspaper said. Pearce said he and his staff were shocked to learn what had happened. “We had no idea what had happened up the street, and it’s just … wow,” Pearce told Fox7. “We just stopped this kid from running away from the cops.”

Two people have been charged in connection with a slaying in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, that led to an Amber Alert being issued for a 16-year-old boy, authorities said. Police were called to East Fairview Avenue early Tuesday and found William Stewart, 52, dead in the yard. Stewart was the fiancé of the 16-year-old boy’s mother. He had been shot multiple times. Keith Bradshaw, 31, and Marjorie Jay are both charged with homicide, kidnapping and other charges in connection with the shooting and Amber Alert. According to the criminal complaint, Jay told police she and Bradshaw went to the home on Fairview Avenue to try talking to the 16-year-old boy. She said Bradshaw brought things to tie the boy up, but told her he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Police said they jumped the backyard fence at the home, where they ran into Stewart, who was letting his dogs out. According to the criminal complaint, after an argument, Bradshaw shot Stewart multiple times. Bradshaw then got the 16-year-old boy from inside the house. Bradshaw, Jay and the boy all ran from the scene, the complaint said. Police caught up with Jay not far from the scene. According to the criminal complaint, she initially lied to them about her name. An Amber Alert was issued for the teenager and Bradshaw. The alert was canceled within an hour when they were located by Pennsylvania State Police in Chambersburg by using the car’s OnStar system. But, according to the criminal complaint, Stewart had an ongoing problem with Bradshaw and Jay, which he reported to police. Stewart’s fiancée, the boy’s mother, told WPXI she didn’t hear the gunshots, but her dogs tipped her off that something was wrong. “I went to go out the back door to look and see what was going on, and that’s when I found my fiancé laying on the ground dead and my son was missing,' Stewart said. She said her 16-year-old son was trying to walk away from a relationship with Bradshaw, a relationship she and the teen’s father initially allowed. She said Bradshaw has been harassing the family. “He came at me with some woman, called me, another showed up at my door, trying to scare me into not saying anything about his relationship with my son,' she said.

A Virginia judge has sentenced a Danville couple to 20 years in prison in the 2018 overdose death of their 2-month-old daughter, authorities said. According to WFXR-TV, Eugene Chandler Jr., 27, and Shaleigh Brumfield, 26, both of Danville, each pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, child abuse/neglect and drug charges on Feb. 12, 15 months after their baby, Marleigh Chandler, died from cocaine and heroin intoxication. On Nov. 24, 2018, Danville police and emergency crews responded to a report of an infant who couldn't breathe, according to court documents. The child, later identified as Marleigh, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, the Danville Register & Bee previously reported. While searching the family’s home, investigators discovered evidence of drug use, including marijuana and drug paraphernalia, WSET reported in June 2019. The Western District Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy, which revealed that Marleigh died from “acute heroin and cocaine intoxication in a setting of co-sleeping,” officials said. After they serve their prison sentences, Chandler and Brumfield also must serve five years of probation, WFXR reported. Read more here.

Two firefighters have died while fighting a blaze at a central California library, a local sheriff said. According to the Fresno Bee, the fire began about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Porterville Public Library. Crews from Porterville, Tulare County, Fresno County and other areas have been battling the blaze. In a Facebook post Tuesday night, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the Porterville City Fire Department “lost two brave men” in the fire. “The city of Porterville mourns their loss, and we as a community grieve with them and their families,” he wrote. “God bless them all.” No further information was immediately available. Read more here.

UPDATE: The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has announced Stacey Lynn Talmadge has been found safe.  ORIGINAL STORY: The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is asking for the community’s help in locating missing 41-year-old Stacey Lynn Talmadge. JSO says Talmadge reportedly has autism and went missing from the 2000 block of Glen Gardner Drive in the Arlington area.  Talmadge is described as a white female, around 5’8, 125 pounds, brown eyes and light brown hair.  Police believe Talmadge is wearing a light blue long sleeve shirt, light colored pants and no shoes.  Anyone who has any information on Stacey’s whereabouts is asked to contact JSO at 904-630-0500 immediately.  

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