VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4
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Brick City Bluegrass Festival returns
JANUARY 24 - 30, 2025
Pg B2
90-year milestone
Florida has no law requiring deaths in custody to be reported by local law enforcement By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
O
ver 25 years ago, a federal law was passed to ensure that every death that occurred while the person was in the custody of law enforcement be reported by the respective state. By extension, every local law enforcement agency is required to comply under this law—the Death in Custody Reporting Act. Yet, the state of Florida has no statute to enforce DCRA. “DCRA reporting is tied to Justice Assistance Grant reporting. As such, the state administering agencies are ultimately responsible for setting up policies and procedures to ensure that DCRA reporting is complete,” according to the act. So, at the state level, law enforcement agencies are only required to report deaths in custody if they wish to obtain grant funding—a loophole of the federal law. The “Gazette” requested all death in custody reports that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has received from the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office during the past five years. Documents provided by the MCSO show there have been 23 deaths in the agency’s custody since 2019. However, the FDLE only had documentation for seven of those 23 deaths in custody. The reports are for inmates Wayne Vanderslice, Mayra Ramirez, Kelly Henry Rayborn, Lanquantis Washington, Michael Watkins, Tyler Allen White and Scott Whitley. To obtain these records from FDLE, the “Gazette” had to hire an attorney, file a notice of intent to litigate and pay research fees. The seven DCRA reports are all that FDLE provided from that process. The “Gazette” asked MCSO why FDLE only received seven death in custody reports from the agency. MCSO spokesperson Lt. Paul Bloom said he spoke to the jail investigator and confirmed that “those 23 deaths were, in fact, documented and See Deaths in custody, page A5
Marion County Tax Collector George Albright, left, who was instrumental in saving and preserving the Bradford - Ma Barker House and Carson Good, right, whose family donated the house to Marion County, hold Thompson submachine guns on Thursday, January 16, 2025 outside the Ma Barker House during an event commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Ma Barker FBI shoot-out. The house, originally located on Lake Weir, is now at the Carney Island Recreation and Conservation Area. Kate "Ma" Barker and her son, Fred, were killed in the FBI gun battle on January 16, 1935. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
Marion County officials and others recently commemorated the Jan. 16, 1935, anniversary of the Ma Barker shoot-out in Ocklawaha. By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
N
inety years ago, on Jan. 16, 1935, the peace and quiet of the sleepy town of Ocklawaha was disturbed by one of the most infamous shoot-outs in the history of the FBI. That was the day agents hailed a rainstorm of bullets on gangster Kate “Ma” Barker and her son Fred, who were hiding out inside a rented home on Lake Weir. On Jan. 16, 2025, Marion County hosted an invitation-only event, during which Tax Collector George Albright, who was
instrumental in saving and preserving the Ma Barker House, also known as the Bradford-Ma Barker House, and Doug Jones, with the Society of Former Special Agents, unveiled a bronze plaque outside the historic home. The house is now located inside the county’s Carney Island Recreation and Conservation Area, after having been moved there in 2016. According to the Friends of the Ma Barker House, Inc., website, the home was owned by Carson Bradford, who bought the real estate in Ocklawaha in 1892. His son, who lived in Miami, built the twostory Florida cracker style house on Lake
Weir in 1930. It was used as a weekend and summer retreat. Carson Bradford had never rented the house but in late 1934 got a generous offer from a representative of a Mrs. T. C. “Kate” Blackburn, describing her as “a sweet little old lady” looking for an out of the way cottage in which to spend time with her sons. Bradford said the house wasn’t for rent. Not willing to accept no for an answer, the offer went up, including paying cash in advance for the entire season. “It is the only time the house was ever See Ma Barker, page A6
Preservation work begins before demolition of Mt. Moriah church Site to be cleared for construction of downtown parking garage. By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
A
s demolition begins at the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, excavation crews are working to remove historical artifacts from the church for preservation, including its iconic stained-glass
window. With the loss of this historical landmark of the Black community, the city promised church members and citizens that not only would pieces of the church be preserved, but a monument would be erected at the future parking garage to mark the land’s significance. The Mt. Moriah Church
Workers with A&A Trucking and Excavating (A&A The Art of Destruction), José Cordero, top right, Cris Silva, bottom left, and Tommy Amodeo, bottom right, are silhouetted as they remove the antique stainedglass window in the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church on Southwest 3rd Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The historic Ocala church is being demolished by A&A Trucking and Excavating in order to make way for a new City of Ocala parking garage. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
community has since moved to another location, after the city purchased the property in 2022 for $2 million. In December 2024, the city awarded a $17.5 million bid to SSC Construction Management LLC to design and build the garage at 55 SW Third Ave. See Mt. Moriah church, page A2
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Drone show.................................... A8 MLK day......................................... B1 Rotary.................................... B2 & B3 Springs............................................ B8 Calendar ........................................ B4 Puzzles............................................. B7
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