Crime

Suncoast Estates sits in the middle of North Fort Myers in an area they say has been forgotten and neglected by the area's politicians. They'd like some attention.

The first good night's sleep in years for the daughter of a murdered couple came the night Florida executed her parents' killer earlier this month, she says in a new interview.“There’s a weight that’s been lifted off of us,” said Maranda Malnory, 29, of Cape Coral, in a phone conversation from her home. “We can move forward. We’re never going to move past it, but it’s not looming there all the time.”Malnory, 29, was less than one month away from her 2nd birthday when James Ford murdered her parents, Greg and Kim Malnory, in rural Charlotte County in southwest Florida. Malnory was left to the elements in a car seat in her father’s blue pickup after her parents’ murders, and police found her and her parents’ bodies the next morning.

The Florida Department of Financial Services, Criminal Investigations Division, is seeking to identify an individual believed to have been on a Lehigh Acres church's property during an arson incident.

SunPass officials say they are aware of a phishing scam involving use of the prepaid toll program's name.The scam uses text messages requesting prompt payment to avoid fees. The messages also contain a link to a fraudulent website in an attempt to collect information. Officials said SunPass does not send these messages.

A Florida man convicted of killing a husband and wife at a remote farm as the couple’s toddler looked on was put to death Thursday in the state’s first execution of the year.James Dennis Ford, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, state officials said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Florida Death Row inmate James Ford, setting the stage for his execution Thursday in the 1997 murders of a couple in Charlotte County.The Supreme Court declined to issue a stay of execution or to take up an appeal by Ford. As is common, the Supreme Court did not explain its reasons.

A federal grand jury indictment names Michel Serrano of Lehigh Acres as one of three men alleged to be part of a major Florida theft ring targeting vehicles including premium pickups, high-end Jeep models and luxury brands such as the Infiniti.The 34-year-old Serrano faces charges of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles and the sale and possession of stolen motor vehicles, as well as two counts of interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles. If convicted on all counts, Serrano faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. The indictment described Serrano as registered agent, president and treasurer of Serrano Trucks Corp. of Lehigh Acres. The Florida Division of Corporations lists the company as inactive.

With inmate James Ford scheduled to be put to death Feb. 13, a Charlotte County circuit judge Thursday rejected an argument that the execution should be blocked because Ford had the mental and developmental age of a 14-year-old when he murdered a couple in 1997.The 22-page ruling by Circuit Judge Lisa Porter could be the first in a series of decisions as Ford’s attorneys try to prevent the execution. Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a death warrant on Jan. 10.

Five members of an alleged retail theft crime ring are facing charges for thefts made at a number of retailers in 14 of Florida's 20 judicial districts, including the Twentieth, which covers Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of brutally murdering a couple at a Charlotte County sod farm in 1997.James D. Ford, 64, is scheduled to be executed Feb. 13 at Florida State Prison in the murders of Greg and Kimberly Malnory. It would be the first execution this year in Florida and would come after one inmate was executed in 2024.