A jury took just over an hour late Friday to recommend that Judge Jalal Harb sentence Cheyanne Jessie of Lakeland to death in the killing of her 6-year-old daughter and a life sentence in the killing of her father | ALSO: Ledger coverage
The Lakeland Police Department announced this afternoon that officers on Tuesday arrested a 17-year-old teen on a felony second-degree arson charge in connection with one of the fires reported recently in the Dixieland and Lake Morton neighborhoods. More
Prosecutors will not pursue felony charges against a Lakeland woman who was accused of entering her estranged husband’s home and taking two firearms before being arrested while trying to turn them over to Lakeland police.
Instead, Courtney Taylor Irby, 32, will be charged with misdemeanor trespass, State Attorney Brian Haas announced at a news conference today. She had originally been arrested by Lakeland police June 15 on two allegations of grand theft of a firearm and one allegation of armed burglary. More
State Attorney Brian Haas announces charges in the Irby case: Courtney Taylor Irby will be charged with misdemeanor trespass regarding entering her estranged husband’s apartment; Joseph Irby is charged with a felony, aggravated battery, in bumping her car with his. Check back for a full article.
WFLA reviewed records in the Joseph Irby-Taylor Irby divorce case, finding a first sign of trouble in a December 2018 text message from the husband saying he had toyed with suicide. Soon after, the wife filed for sole custody “in the children’s best interest.” Since then, both have filed papers in court saying they fear harm from the other. Joseph Irby’s lawyer told the TV station his client is not violent and termed the conflict an ugly custody battle. The case received national attention (examples) after Taylor Irby was arrested and jailed for six days when she went to the Lakeland Police Department to turn in weapons she took from her estranged husband’s apartment.
Along with reports by the BBC, NPR and the Washington Post, The New York Times covered issues surrounding the arrest of Courtney Taylor Irby by Lakeland police. She’s the woman who was charged with armed burglary and spent six days in jail after taking police the guns she removed from her estranged husband’s home when a judge ordered him not to carry them. Among others, reporter Nicholas Bogel Burroughs spoke with: More
Lakeland police tonight apprehended a 25-year-old man who escaped from a patrol car this morning after he was arrested and charged with burglary, police spokeswoman Robin Tillet said. The search for Brandon James Beverly started late morning and focused on the Dixieland and Lake Morton Neighborhoods. More
The case of a Lakeland woman who was arrested when she went to the Lakeland Police Department to turn in firearms she took from her estranged husband’s home has caught the attention of a state legislator. Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, D-Orlando, said she will ask State Attorney Brian Haas not to prosecute. More
A woman arrested Saturday on allegations she stole two firearms from her estranged husband’s home was granted bail Thursday for the most significant crime she is accused of committing.
County Judge Robert Fegers granted Courtney Taylor Irby’s request for bail Thursday morning at the Bartow courthouse as more than two dozen of her supporters — family and friends, church members at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Lakeland and her pastor, Tim Rice — sat inside and outside the courtroom. More
A woman was arrested at the Lakeland Police Department headquarters after attempting to turn over guns belonging to her estranged husband while he awaited his release from jail on bail for a felony domestic violence charge. More
