OSCEOLA COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit has filed two notices of intent to seek the death penalty in the first-degree murder case against Kevin Torres. Earlier this month, a grand jury returned three first-degree murder indictments against Torres for his involvement in the 2021 shooting deaths of two men and one teenager in Osceola County. On November 16, 2021, Torres was in his apartment when he fatally shot 44-year-old Justin Atkinson, who he knew, in the head. Torres then went to the victim’s apartment where immediately upon entry, he shot and killed Atkinson’s 16-year-old son, Calvin Atkinson, and the son’s friend, 25-year-old Anthony Mull. Torres also mutilated Mull’s body with a curtain rod and torch. The State of Florida will seek the death penalty in the homicides of Calvin Atkinson and Mull because there are sufficient aggravating circumstances.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announces the conviction of Hakeem Haron for First Degree Murder with a Firearm. On September 18, 2019, Haron, 26, fatally shot a man named Eddie Murphy, 45, as he was leaving the RaceTrac gas station at 4805 West Sand Lake Road.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announces that Willie Shade has been found guilty of First Degree Murder in the shooting death of Zedekiah Lafayette in January 2023. On January 20, Lafayette, 26, was found lying on the ground at the Maxwell Terrace Apartments on West Colonial Drive. The Orlando Police Department identified Willie Shade, 35, as a suspect, and arrested him.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – November 17 will mark State Attorney Andrew Bain’s 100-th day in office. His first week on the job, he promised to bring the office back to basics, instill law and order and prosecute based on the rule of law. Since then, State Attorney Bain has taken significant steps to restaff the office, strengthen relationships with community and law enforcement partners, hold violent offenders accountable and keep the communities of Orange and Osceola counties safer. Highlighted below are a few key accomplishments over the last 100 days.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – In a significant development in the 2018 homicide of a Boone High School student, a grand jury has returned a murder indictment against DeAndre Eugene Florence, 23. Florence is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Alejandro “Alex” Vargas Martinez. He is also charged with robbery by snatching, racketeering, three counts of grand theft motor vehicle and dealing in stolen property.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announces that Tyquarius Smith has been found guilty of First Degree Murder with a Firearm after a man was found shot and killed in Apopka in 2019.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announces that David Tronnes has been found guilty of first degree murder in the death of his wife Shanti Cooper-Tronnes in 2018. On April 24, 2018, Cooper-Tronnes was beaten and strangled to death in the couple’s Delaney Park house after a dispute concerning home renovations. Tronnes had spent thousands of dollars on renovations and had hopes of appearing on the reality television show, “Zombie House Renovations”. This led to the couple experiencing problems in their marriage. Cooper-Tronnes’ refusal to appear on the show upset Tronnes to the point that it led to her murder.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – The Office of the State Attorney of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announces that Ya Ken Maleeq Sowell has been found guilty of First Degree Murder With A Firearm in the death of Jacaris Rozier after shooting him in a robbery attempt. Sowell was accused in a plot to rob a man after observing him purchasing expensive items from the Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores at the Millenia Mall.