State Attorney Brian Haas announced the conviction of Gail Nichols on four felony counts of cruelty to animals.  Nichols was convicted by a Polk County Jury after nearly four hours of deliberations.

Gail Nichols

This case was even more disturbing as Nichols is licensed in the State of Florida as a veterinarian.

The charges stemmed from an animal cruelty investigation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in August of 2017.  As a result of the investigation numerous horses, dogs, and birds were confiscated because of deplorable living conditions.  Three of the horses had to be euthanized after they were found to be in such poor condition.

State Attorney Haas commended the efforts of Assistant State Attorney Jessica Embree in her efforts in bringing Gail Nichols to justice.  State Attorney Haas also thanked the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for a thorough investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Nichols.  Animal cruelty cases such as this are very complex and complicated.  The Office of the State Attorney is committed to seeking justice for all victims included the four legged ones.

Nichols’ sentencing is scheduled for June 21 before Judge Durden.

Severely Overgrown Hooves

Gerard Dixon raped a 5-year-old girl and recorded the entire incident on his cell phone.

Gerard Dixon

After about two hours of deliberation on May 15, a jury convicted Dixon of two counts of sexual battery on a victim less than 12. He is facing mandatory life and will be sentenced on June 28.

Assistant State Attorney Courtney Durden walked jurors through the evidence in the case and played the cell phone recordings for the jury.

Dixon can be heard on the video telling the girl to be quiet.

The girl’s mother found the explicit videos on Dixon’s phone and saved copies of the videos to take to law enforcement. Dixon was arrested the same day.

Durden told jurors that law enforcement was able to prove the girl’s identity through a birthmark and the pajama pants she was wearing. The videos also show portions of a room in the girl’s residence, placing Dixon in the home with her.

In one of the videos, Dixon’s face can be seen.

Dixon took the stand during trial and claimed he was not the man in the video.

He testified that it could not be him in the video because his lips look different, among other body parts.

But Durden told the jury that despite the differences Dixon tried to point out, they still have video footage of his face to compare with his photo.

Dixon also stated that the girl’s mother let a man who looked like Dixon break into her home, rape her daughter, and plant the videos on Dixon’s phone to set him up.

In her closing statements, Durden reminded jurors that Dixon lived with the girl and her mother for a year in the same apartment where the video was filmed. Dixon had sole custody of the child at the time of the assaults.

Durden told the jury it was completely unreasonable to believe another man was given access to the home to sexually assault a child while the mother knew about it.

When Blake Fitez met Victor Manns Jr. to sell him an iPhone, he had no way of knowing the interaction would end in his friend’s murder.

Victor Manns

Jurors deliberated about two hours on April 24 before finding Manns guilty of first-degree murder, robbery with a firearm, burglary with a firearm, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Judge Harb immediately sentenced Manns to life in prison.

Assistant State Attorney Steven Alamia told jurors that Manns created a fake profile on the application Letgo, a site where you can buy or sell used items.

Manns reached out to Fitez as a Letgo user named Freddy James, stating he was interested in the iPhone Fitez was selling.

Fitez and one of his friends, Jeff Morrow, planned to meet Manns on Sept. 4, 2016 in the parking lot of a Lakeland Family Dollar.

Fitez and Morrow met Manns in the parking lot about 10 p.m., and they showed Manns the phone. Manns reached into the truck, snatched the iPhone from Fitez’s hand, and took off running across the parking lot.

Both Fitez and Morrow jumped out of the truck and began to chase Manns.

By the time Fitez made it to the truck’s rear tire, he heard someone say, “I have a gun.”

Seconds later, Fitez heard multiple shots rang out. He crouched by the tire and saw a bullet ricochet past his leg.

Fitez looked under the truck to see Morrow lying on the ground. He was later pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the face.

Detectives used the Freddy James Letgo account to link Manns to the murder, as Manns’ Letgo profile photo and Facebook profile photo were identical.

In an interview with law enforcement, Manns admitted to shooting Morrow. He also made repeated statements about the amount of prison time he would potentially be facing.

“He lost his life, now I’m going to lose my life,” Manns told detectives.

“He was obsessed – not with the fact that someone died but that he would go to prison for a long time,” Alamia told jurors in closing statements.

The defense claimed there were too many holes in the case and that Fitez’s description of the suspect didn’t match Manns.

But Alamia pointed jurors back to the photos, reminding them that Manns and Freddy James are the same person.

“All of the evidence in this case points to this defendant,” Alamia said.