VOLUME 6 ISSUE 5
Silver River Knap-In and Prehistoric Arts Festival
$2
Pg B6
JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 6, 2025
Six more recent deaths in law enforcement custody come to light By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
T
he “Gazette” has obtained records for six more people who have died in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office in recent months, bringing the total to 29 deaths within the past five years, according to records provided by law enforcement.
As previously reported, the “Gazette” requested all reports for deaths in custody filed by MCSO to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. MCSO has provided documentation of 29 deaths from January 2020 until the present, 28 of which were reported to the state in accordance with federal law. The Death in Custody Reporting Act, passed by Congress in 2000, requires all states to report
Annual PIT Count conducted The survey is a census of the homeless who are sheltered and unsheltered in Marion County on a given day.
“information regarding the death of any person who is under arrest, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, or other local or state correctional facility, including any juvenile facility.” The law has since been expanded to require the law enforcement agency that had custody of the person to report the death.
Six additional deaths occurred since the “Gazette” last received death in custody reports in October of last year. The request was made on Sept. 27, 2024, so the 23 internal reports received spanned from 2020 until that date. Additionally, one inmate’s death was not reported to FDLE—Corey Merchant, who died in custody after an
altercation with another inmate in the Gulf Pod of the jail. Merchant’s family sued MCSO, including Sheriff Billy Woods, Deputy Justin Kosinski, Deputy Joseph Miller and Sgt. Jerome Dukes, in 2023 for wrongful death, claiming Merchant’s death could have been prevented. See Law enforcement, page A3
‘Preserve legacy:’ community rallies to save historic Fessenden, Anthony elementary schools
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
I
n a Dodge van; in an abandoned house about to be leveled; bundled up in the woods in recent rain and freezing temperatures. Those were typical of the answers given to the question, “Where are you sleeping tonight?” as it was asked during the 2025 HUD Point In Time Count, conducted locally on Jan. 23. The PIT Count is a census and survey of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in Marion County at a specific point in time. The count is spearheaded by the Ocala/Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention. Robin Ford, city of Ocala Deputy Director, Community Development Services, led about 20 counters for the 2025 survey, including personnel from Interfaith Emergency Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The volunteers broke into small teams and covered areas countywide, seeking people living unsheltered, to ask about their sleeping arrangements for the night of Jan.23. The PIT Count is mandated every two years by HUD but is done here annually, according to Ford, who has spearheaded the PIT Count for four years. “The camps are smaller and more spread out,” Ford said about the current trends in local homeless camps. Several years ago, there were larger camps in the area, such as a sizable encampment on Northwest 10th Street in Ocala, and a camp with a camper, mobile home and tent on Southwest 38th Avenue, both of which have been dispersed. Ford said this was the first PIT See PIT Count, page A2
Fessenden Elementary School [supplied]
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
C
ommunity members rallied at a Marion County School Board meetingon Jan. 28 to fight for Fessenden Elementary and Anthony Elementary to remain open as the board debated the fate of both schools and considered alternative uses. At a school board work session the week prior, members floated the idea of offlining Fessenden and Anthony Elementary School and sending students to the nearby Reddick-Collier Elementary, which is only at about half-full capacity. If the school were decommissioned as an educational facility, it would be converted for use as a museum, daycare center, community center, or other resource—but not destroyed.
The item is not slated for any final decision or action and was not on the Jan. 28 agenda for discussion. The public came as a proactive measure to voice support for the schools before the school board moves further with any alternative options. Fessenden Elementary School is registered on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest continuously operated school in Florida originally established for Black students shortly after the Civil War. Originally called Fessenden Academy, the school was founded by a group of freedmen fighting for the educational rights of Black Americans, led by Thomas B. Ward. Ward’s great-granddaughter Linda Ward is the current PTO president of Fessenden Elementary and one of the passionate
speakers who pleaded with the school board to keep the school in use as an educational facility. “You're talking about ripping the hearts out of a family if you go along with trying to close the school,” Ward said. “I want you to go down in the pits of your intestinal fortitude and just say, ‘God, give me the strength to do the right thing.’” The school was first founded in 1868 as Fessenden Academy, eventually transitioned into Fessenden High School, and absorbed into Marion County Public Schools in 1951. Community members voiced staunch opposition to the site being used as anything other than a school. The school’s history runs deep, and many speakers See Elementary schools, page A5
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Special Election ......................... A6 Transparency ............................. A7 Immigration ......................A8 & A9 Calendar .................................... B4 WEC chef ................................... B7
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