Crime and Public Safety

FULL PRESS CONFERENCE | Ahmad Bojeh, who is accused of killing three men visiting Kissimmee in January, was indicted by a grand jury with three counts of first-degree murder on Feb. 26, State Attorney Monique Worrell said. 

A Brevard County mother is back behind bars after a near-fatal drowning involving her toddler. The incident raises questions about how she was granted unsupervised access to her children while still facing felony charges for a previous child abuse case. A judge, DCF and case manager all agreed the mother could have unsupervised access with her children.

The believed remains of a missing Palm Coast woman, Mary Lou Combs, were found in a body of water on Feb. 3. Combs was last seen on Aug. 19, 2003, leaving her home and was never found. Divers with the FBI helped locate her body less than a mile from her home. 

William Elwood Simmons, 80, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge after his wife, Nancy Lee Simmons, 83 – who was found unresponsive in the kitchen. When investigators asked Simmons if he knew what had happened, he responded saying, "I do know what happened, I did it," the affidavit said. 

The Orange County Sheriff's office responded to a Walmart on East Colonial Drive regarding reports of a man attempting to steal from the store. When deputies arrived, the man – later identified as Jason Anthony Beal, 48 – was walking out of the store wearing a ski mask and pushing a shopping cart full of merchandise, Sheriff John Mina said.  "The deputy gave the man numerous commands to stop. The man did not comply with those commands," the sheriff said. The deputy fired his taser, which didn't have any effect and, "shortly after that, the deputy could be heard saying, ‘Don’t reach, don't reach,' three times and then our deputy fires his service weapons at the suspect, striking him several times."

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is looking to talk with two people who were on an e-bike over the weekend in Daytona Beach and crashed into a 5-year-old boy. VSO said the crash happened Saturday afternoon near Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach. The 5-year-old boy was headed toward the water to fill up his beach bucket, but the e-bike riders crashed into him, VSO said. The boy was taken to the hospital and determined to have minor injuries. Witnesses told deputies that the two riders – described as teenagers, a male and female – stopped briefly, apologized, and then pedaled away. 

12-year-old Josephine Simmons-Peters was arrested after detectives received a tip about a plan to shoot students and a teacher at Southwestern Middle School in Volusia County. Josephine is facing multiple charges, including written threats to kill and misuse of a two-way communication device. 

FULL PRESS CONFERENCE | U.S. attorneys announced the indictment of eleven individuals associated with the Sex, Money, Murder 24K gang in Florida. Their counts were unsealed on Feb. 20, 2026.