VERO BEACH — In a rare criminal case, a jury convicted a Vero Beach man of murder and selling drugs in the drug-overdose death of one of his customers.

William McCartney III, of Vero Beach, was convicted Wednesday of murder and illegally selling drugs, including two capsules of methadone that Nolan Adams, 19, took before dying at his home early Jan. 25, 2005.

Adams died in his bed several hours after buying the potent drugs at McCartney’s apartment along Indian River Boulevard. (more…)

Stuart Fire Rescue's Lieutenant Troy Bowser, from left, and Firefighter Paul Moyer look for hot spots while helping contain the remnants of a fire on Thursday that encompassed ninety acres from Stuart to Rio on Wednesday.

STUART — A cigarette casually flicked from a passing car is suspected to have sparked the 90-acre blaze that took firefighters roughly six hours to contain on Wednesday.

Bystanders step back as the fire along Dixie Highway flares up early Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Ana X. Ceron.

A witness told Stuart Fire Rescue officials that a vehicle driving along Dixie Highway tossed something out the window by the Shannon Square commercial plaza north of Wright Boulevard, Fire Chief Lori Sunderman said this morning.

“Because it’s so dry, that person I’m sure was just driving along, flipped out their cigarette and in two minutes — poof — it took off because of the wind,” Sunderman said. (more…)

Two little boys. Two young men. A matter of life and death.

These are the things jurors will begin weighing Thursday in deciding whether Ricardo Sanchez, Jr. and Daniel Troya will face life in prison or die for the 2006 murders of 3 and 4-year-old Luis Damian and Luis Julian and Escobedo along with their parents on Florida's Turnpike.

Family slain

Jose and Yessica Escobedo with sons Luis Julian (left) and Luis Damian (right). Husband, wife and two children from Greenacres found shot to death off Florida’s Turnpike in northern Port St. Lucie. More news, photos

The deliberations come at the end of nearly two months of testimony before the federal jury, who earlier this month convicted the men in the killings and also convicted the head of their drug ring, Danny Varela, on related gun and drug charges that virtually guarantee him a life sentence.

Prosecutors said Sanchez and Troya killed Jose Luis Escobedo, Varela's drug supplier, along with his wife Yessica and their sons to steal drugs Escobedo was carrying and to settle a debt Varela owed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton told the 12-member panel Wednesday that nothing could excuse shooting the boys.

"How many murders must we have before you forfeit your right to exist in this society," Carlton asked. "Four is not enough?"

Defense attorneys battled back, however, telling jurors that the men's backgrounds and Varela's influence contributed to their poor decisions, adding that death for either man would not undo the damage. Sanchez's attorney, Donnie Murrell, in his statements to jurors compared Varela to a hurricane - one who tore through Sanchez's life already hampered by a low I.Q. and violent upbringing and manipulated him into a life of crime.

No matter what they decide, Murrell told jurors, Sanchez will be in prison until he dies.

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ANA X. CERON, KATHLEEN CHAPMAN, and MICHAEL LAFORGIA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

STUART — As 800 children filed out of Felix A. Williams Elementary School near Stuart on Wednesday, firefighters lined up trucks to protect them from a fast-moving brush fire that burned nearly up to the school’s fence.

The flames got close to the eastern edge of the school, forced the evacuation of 100 homes off Baker Road and dropped sparks over the Windemere subdivision off U.S. 1, fire officials said

Displaced residents watched from a distance, and parents were routed to Martin County High School to pick up children evacuated from their schools

Special video report

But in the end, the fire was nothing more than a close call amid the region’s severe drought. No one was hurt and no structures were lost in the 90-acre blaze, which was fully contained by early evening

Felix A. Williams was not damaged but will remain closed to students and staff today.

The brush fire, which started in the woods behind First Christian Church off Dixie Highway, was first reported at 12:35 p.m. A few minutes later, 15 school buses evacuated staff and students from Felix A. Williams to Martin County High, about 6 miles away.

An experimental image for about 8 p.m. Wednesday showing areas of concern for smoke drift from the Rio Fire near Stuart. US 1 and the Florida Turnpike may see reduced visibility into the night time hours with the Port Saint Lucie area indicated near the smoke plume concentration.

It took about 20 minutes to empty the school, said Martin County sheriff’s Lt. Morgan Sprott, who is in charge of school resource officers and was at the school when the call to evacuate was made.

Sprott said that no students were in danger, but the evacuation caught some parents off guard.

Raymond Hoffman said he was worried when he was stopped on the way to pick up his 9-year-old son, William, from school.

“I was trying every which way to get to the school; there was a cop everywhere,” said Hoffman, who eventually was directed to the high school, where he found his son.

The fire rapidly spread to 90 acres, fueled by wind, low humidity and severe dryness.

“That’s a bad combination for a fire day,” Martin County Fire Rescue Lt. Todd Tucker said as he rode around in an all-terrain vehicle surveying the damage.

On Charlie Greene Drive and Charlie Greene Terrace south of Baker Road, residents had only a few minutes to get out.

Daisy White, 53, said that when sheriff’s deputies knocked on the door, she could see fire in the nearby trees and nothing but smoke in front of her home. She didn’t have time to get her Boxer, Cocoa, or her two puppies, Dakota and Montana, who were loose outside.

She watched the fire from a distance on Baker Road, worried every time she saw the helicopter whirring over her home.

White grew up in the neighborhood in a home her mother built in 1963. She said she moved away but came back to live in a nearby trailer home because the area is so peaceful. The homes are surrounded by woods, she said, and neighbors put in gardens and fruit trees.

“It’s beautiful back there, absolutely beautiful,” she said. “And it’s home.”

At Baseline Avenue and 15th Street, Sandra Jean Brown, 80, sat in her van with her Schnauzer, Willow, watching the smoke creep toward her mobile home. “I’m 80 years old. What, me worry?” Brown said. “If it burns up, I’ll get another one.”

Still, she said, she put a lot of care into her place in the past five years.

“That building there is probably one of the best mobiles in the park,” she said. “Because it’s totally rebuilt.”

She had driven to Home Depot after lunch to see about returning some shutters, and when she returned, deputies wouldn’t let her back into her home.

A few hours later, she sneaked past the deputies to check on the orchids she grows in her backyard.

“I’m just concerned that maybe the wind might pick up,” she said.

Gray smoke billowed over U.S. 1 for most of the afternoon, and flashing signs warned motorists to slow down in the haze. The evacuated area was a ghost town for most of Wednesday afternoon, with empty driveways, abandoned lawn chairs and the smell of charred pine.

David Cook and his wife, Lisa Feick, went back into the smoke to help a neighbor rescue her two dogs and a cat. But they couldn’t find one black-and-white kitten, Feick said.

Despite the dry and windy conditions, firefighters were able to get in front of the blaze and contain it, Tucker said.

A Florida Division of Forestry helicopter whirred over the blaze, dropping 88 loads of water from a 320-gallon bucket dipped in nearby ponds. Firefighters said they would continue to douse smoldering spots through the night.

Little rain has fallen this winter, leaving South Florida at high risk for fire. According to the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which runs from 0 to 800, two-thirds of Martin County is in the 600-700 range, with some areas as high as 727.

Staff writers Sonja Isger, Eliot Kleinberg and Cara Fitzpatrick contributed to this story.

If you have photos of the fire, please share them on PostPix. If you have a video to submit please upload it here.

FORT PIERCE — A plan that includes eliminating 331 jobs and closing three schools to cut $30.6 million from next year’s budget was explained in detail Tuesday evening to elected members of the School Board, who sat silent through the presentation by Schools Superintendent Michael Lannon.

Their lack of comment was deliberate. Chairwoman Judi Miller said after the meeting all five members of the School Board had previously agreed in individual conversations with Lannon not to speak until after a town hall meeting on the proposal, scheduled for 6 p.m. March 31 at Fort Pierce Central High School auditorium.

Lannon spoke for almost one hour on a problem that he laid entirely at the feet of Tallahassee lawmakers who refuse to raise more money in the face of shortfalls created by the economic recession.
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SEBASTIAN — The woman who kept her mother’s mummified remains in a bedroom of their home for six years told police she never reported the death because she couldn’t afford burial expenses.

According to interview records released Tuesday, Penelope Sharon Jordan had maintained the ruse over the deception of the fate of Timmie Jordan since 2003. The story she gave to a Sebastian officer Monday morning was that her mother, who was born in 1913, was living in Melbourne. However, officers said Penelope Jordan couldn’t provide an address for where her mother was staying.
(more…)

FORT PIERCE — Despite a sagging economy, graphic design using digital media is booming.

“Over 10,000 new jobs in graphic design become available in Florida each year,” said Jose Farinos, dean of advanced technology at Indian River State College. “And over 6,000 of them require a two-year college degree.”
(more…)

FORT PIERCE — After an officer pulled cocaine from Bobby L. Burgess’ pants pocket, the 44-year-old local man said he was wearing his son’s trousers.

But that revelation did not keep Burgess out of jail following a Monday morning police encounter.
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A federal jury Wednesday will likely hear their last words from attorneys before deciding whether Ricardo Sanchez Jr. and Daniel Troya will spend their lives in prison or face the death penalty for the 2006 murders of a family of four.

Family slain

Jose and Yessica Escobedo with sons Luis Julian (left) and Luis Damian (right). Husband, wife and two children from Greenacres found shot to death off Florida’s Turnpike in northern Port St. Lucie. More news, photos

Federal prosecutors today presented their last evidence against Sanchez and Troya, both 25, who jurors this month found guilty of the murders of Jose Luis Escobedo, his wife, Yessica, and sons Luis Julian and Luis Damian. Defense attorneys since last week have been trying to convince jurors to spare the men’s lives.

Donnie Murrell, Sanchez’s attorney, has built his case on the facts that Sanchez has a low IQ, grew up in a crime-infested environment, watched his father beat his mother and had a mentally disabled older brother who suffered from violent seizures and is in a prison mental hospital after trying to burn down the family home.

Troya’s attorney James Eisenberg has pointed to several events - including the shooting death of Troya’s friend John Pierre Kamel when Troya was 13, the suicide of a family friend and bad influence from his uncle Isidro - as factors that changed Troya, bringing him to a life of crime.
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Eric Ferguson

At 12:01 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy responded to Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee County where he met with the wife of Deputy Eric Scott Ferguson.

The woman reported she and her husband had argued and said that later Ferguson, 39, struck her in the face as she lay in bed. The woman’s face was bruised and swollen, according to a sheriff’s news release.

The wife also said Ferguson has been violent with her before and she asked not to press charges.

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