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Sources report the victim in this morning's incident on Myers Ann Street in Bristol passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The name has not been released. Our prayers are with the loved ones of this person.

BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor

A Hosford couple is behind bars after the makings of a meth lab were found at their home.

Chet Allen Geiger, 29, and Hali Danielle Smith, 19, have been charged with manufacture of meth within 1000 feet of a school. Smith is also charged with violating state probation.

According to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Todd Wheetley and Sgt. Brian Bateman were joined by Drug Task Force members Lt. Timothy Partridge and Inv. Kevin Godwin in conducting a consent search at the couple’s home at 21266 Woodmen Street in Hosford last Wednesday.

A trash can outside had a 20 ounce bottle of bi-layer liquid, several tin foil strips, two plastic bottles that smelled of lighter fluid, and paper towels with a strong chemical odor. Items used in the manufacture of meth were discovered in the backyard.

Geiger allegedly told authorities, “I’ve cooked a couple times,” but refused to give a recorded statement.

After Smith and Geiger were taken into custody, Smith reportedly stated she had been present when Geiger was manufacturing meth and it was common for him to throw some items in the trash and burn the rest following the cook process.

Bond was initially set at $25,000 for Smith, but was then changed to no bond due to the fact she violated her state probation conditions. Geiger is being held on $42,000 bond.

Charlie Sam Ball of Bristol, Florida, passed away at age 69 on January, 17, 2012, in Panama City, Florida, after complications due to illness.

Charlie was born in Elbert, McDowell County, West Virginia, to Charlie Clarence Ball and Agnes Elsie Lang. His life of adventure began early when he joined the Navy at age 17. He met Betty Faye Scott at a USO dance in Memphis, and they were married on April 22, 1961. They had six children together.

Charlie was blessed with “itchy feet” and moved his family multiple times to Florida, Illinois, Mississippi and Virginia. Charlie and Betty divorced after 35 years of marriage.

In his later years, he set out to sail the world and got as far as Apalachicola, Florida, where he enjoyed a life full of other adventures. On one trip to China, he met and married Childer, who took care of him in his final days and was a devoted and kind companion to him.

Charlie leaves behind a legacy of adventure and learning. He learned to play the banjo and the organ and enjoyed all sorts of music. He was a philosopher and enjoyed conversations on a large variety of topics. He was a spiritual man and enjoyed his activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Charlie provided many opportunities for his children to learn independence and resilience, and these are traits that they cherish. He loved to sail and was an accomplished pilot. His love of aviation brought him many fun experiences and true friends. He was also a businessman and owned his own trucking company for several years. He had a desire to serve others who were less fortunate than he was. He led a very full and somewhat unconventional life.

He is survived in death by his wife Qiuzhi Gao and his children John Ball (Linda) of Springville UT, Sheri Johnson (Mike) of Orem, UT, Tammy Horger (Jim) of South Jordan, UT, Sarah Walker (Bernard) of St. George, UT, Samuel Ball of Brookport, Illinois, and Spencer Ball of South Jordan, UT. He leaves behind nine brothers and sisters, Suzie, Clark, Connie, Gracie, Russell, John, Rosie, Kathy and David. Charlie is also survived by eight grandchildren and some granddogs. He will be greatly missed by his close friends Steven Ford and Max Campbell, and his family would like to thank them for their devotion to him during his final days.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother and brother, Jessie, and sister, Audrey Faye.
A memorial service will be on Tuesday January 24, at 2 PM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 12605 Northwest Myers Ann Street, in Bristol Florida.

Bevis Funeral Home (ph. 850- 643-3636, www.bevisfh.com) in Bristol is in charge of the arrangements.

Here's a sneak peak of tomorrow's headlines in The County Record....

-Two more candidates announce plans to seek office in the 2012 election.

-Highlights from Altha's Homecoming Coronation Monday night. Find out who was crowned!

-Two local social workers are joining forces with the goal of creating a community outreach center.

-Scenes from the march held Monday in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

-Update on last week's Altha snake handling service from 1955...one reader who was there shares her story!

-Remember the Miss Valentine pageant from days gone by? It's back!

All this and more in the January 18 print edition of The County Record, on stands bright and early!

BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor

Authorities on the prowl for two suspects wanted on warrants got more than they bargained for when they stumbled upon a meth lab last Tuesday at a Clarksville home.

Arrested were Angela Howard, 33, of Clarksville, Casey Ruis, 34, of Havana, Brandon Keller, 31, and Jessica Brown, 26, both of Tallahassee. All were charged with manufacture of meth, possession of meth, possession of listed chemicals and child abuse.

According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Jared Nichols and Dep. John Scheetz arrived at Angela Howard’s home on Cook Road to serve arrest warrants on two subjects that were possibly at the residence. Ruis was coming out the door when they arrived, then quickly returned inside. Sgt. Nichols described hearing the sounds of people running through the mobile home and commotion coming from the west end of the residence as they walked toward the door.

Howard opened the door and Keller also approached, both appearing extremely nervous. Sgt. Nichols could see directly into the master bedroom and reported noticing a “smokey haze” in the air with a strong chemical odor consistent with meth being manufactured. A clear Pyrex dish and ceramic plate, often used when producing the drug, were also spotted on the bed. The house was cleared and the components of a meth lab were discovered. Evidence suggested the contents of a reaction vessel had been poured down a sink drain.

Howard told Sgt. Nichols they were only smoking meth, not making it. However, items used to manufacture the drug were collected, including psuedoephedrine, a listed chemical. Howard, Ruis and Keller allegedly admitted to smoking meth. Brown reportedly said crack cocaine was her drug of choice and she had smoked that just prior to the arrival of investigators.
Due to the fact Howard’s two children, ages 14 and 9, were present in the home, all were charged with child abuse. The children were turned over to a relative.

Howard is being held on a $10,000 bond. Ruis’ and Keller’s bonds are both set at $12,000. Brown’s bond is $12,500.

BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor

An arrest has been made and another is pending following an investigation into a December stabbing incident in Clarksville.

As reported last month by The County Record, Diana Jo Bates, 29, was rushed to Bay Medical Center Dec. 15 after allegedly being stabbed. According to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, Dep. Bobby Sims, Sgt. Jared Nichols and Inv. Mark Mallory responded to a home on NW Baggett Loop just after 6 p.m. They spoke with Bates and her boyfriend, Justin Woody, who claimed Pamela Bowden, 43, who lives with them, came home and started an altercation over a cell phone. Diana reportedly confronted Pamela in the front yard and, at one point, thought Pamela had punched her in her left side. However, she looked down and saw blood. Pamela then got in her car and left the residence.

Bates was hospitalized for treatment. She reported receiving four stitches to a one inch stab wound that was four inches deep in her side.
Meanwhile, Lt. Mark Mallory located Bowden at her mother’s home. Although visibly shaken, Bowden said she was alright. No weapons were found on her person or in her vehicle. Bowden alleged Bates attacked her with an unknown weapon while in the yard of the home they share and admitted to stabbing her, but said it was in self defense. She said she didn’t know what she had done with the knife used in the stabbing.

After arriving home from the hospital, Bates reportedly told Lt. Mallory she and Bowden had been arguing for a couple days before the stabbing incident. She said on that day, the argument escalated when Bowden was in her car and Bates was on the front porch. Bates said she went toward Bowden at the same time Bowden came toward her to fight. Bates said she had no weapon in her hand and didn’t see that Bowden was armed with a knife. Bates told Lt. Mallory she assumed she and Bowden would have a physical altercation to settle their differences, then move forward residing together because they were friends. Bates said, as she got to Bowden, she realized she had been stabbed and 911 was called.

A week later, a follow up interview was conducted with Bowden who said, on the night in question, she was sitting in her car while Bates was standing in the doorway of the house in the midst of a verbal altercation. She spotted a knife in the seat and decided to arm herself. When Bates came toward her, Bowden said she thought Bates picked up a black object. She then met Bates in the yard, alleged Bates hit her in the thumb, then she stabbed Bates. Bowden still couldn’t recall what she did with the knife.

Other witnesses were interviewed, but the knife was never recovered. Bowden said the black object she thought Bates picked up could have been a sock with a padlock inside that her friend later found, but other witnesses denied seeing Bates with anything in her hand.
Due to the fact that Bates said she intended to fight Bowden that day, and since the two women reside together, Lt. Mallory concluded the incident constituted domestic violence by both parties.

Bowden has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon (domestic violence) and is being held without bond. A warrant has also been issued for Bates’ arrest on charges of domestic violence assault.

BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor

An undercover drug investigation led to the arrest of a father, son, and the son’s girlfriend last week.

Albert James “A.J.” Kearce, 52, and his son, Alan “Joseph” Kearce, 23, have been charged with trafficking in hydrocodone over 28 grams, but less than 200 grams. Both men, along with Joseph’s girlfriend, Pamala A. McMillan, 50, have all been charged with conspiracy to traffic in hydrocodone.
According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, members of the Calhoun-Liberty Drug Task Force utilized a confidential source to make a controlled purchase of 56 hydrocodone pills from A.J., Joseph and McMillan. Lt. Mark Mallory and Lt. Tim Partridge met with the source and A.J. reportedly called the source during this time and arranged to sell the pills for $5 each. A.J. allegedly indicated the pills belonged to his son, Joseph, and he had to keep four pills to prove on a urinalysis test that he was taking his prescribed medication. A.J. also told the source to bring $1.10 he needed to fill the prescription, as well as gas money.

The source met A.J. at his South Pear Street home with $10 to cover the gas and his prescription cost. They agreed to meet at the Calhoun County Library once A.J. obtained the pills. A short time later, A.J., Joseph and Pamela arrived at the library parking lot, along with another female in the vehicle. A.J. approached the source’s car and exchanged the pills for $300. During the transaction, he was asked if the others knew what was going on and said they did. The pill bottle had a prescription label with Alan J. Kearce’s name. The source called and spoke with Joseph Kearce, thanking him for selling the pills.
Once the deal was done and the suspects drove away, an arrest team consisting of Cpl. Eddie Dalton and BPD Ofc. Maxwell initiated a traffic stop and recovered the $300 in buy money.

Lt. Mallory interviewed Joseph who denied knowledge that his father was going to sell his pills. However, he was overheard on a jail phone later asking a pastor to bring him bail money and allegedly remarked that the pills were sold because they needed money.
Also interviewed was A.J. who said he wanted to accept responsibility for selling the pills and said his son had no knowledge of it. However, he admitted when asked that McMillian was with him when he first met with the source the day before in Bristol to discuss selling the pills. A.J. was also asked about his own prescription for hydrocodone. He stated he receives 90 pills per month, then trades them for sex and sells them.

Both A.J. and Joseph are being held on a $5000 bond. McMillian’s bond is set at $10,000. The other woman in the vehicle was not charged.

BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor

An investigation into inappropriate behavior with a child led to the arrest of a Blountstown man this week.

Edmond Nicholas Taylor, 34, has been charged with showing obscene material to a minor child.

According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, the mother of a seven-year-old boy told authorities Taylor was a new neighbor who had befriended her and her children. She said her son had gone to Taylor’s home and watched television with him before, but recently began acting strange around Taylor and refused to go with him. The woman questioned her son and said he told her Taylor had touched his private parts. The child provided details to a Department of Children and Families investigator about an alleged incident with Taylor.

Lt. Mark Mallory and DCF Inv. Barbara Bodiford interviewed Taylor who indicated he had babysat the woman’s two children, but never had either of them with him alone. He said he only watched the children in his home once about a week before Christmas. Lt. Mallory asked Taylor if he knew of anything about the children that concerned him and he responded he did not.

It was then disclosed to Taylor that one of the children alleged he had touched him inappropriately. Investigators then told Taylor a medical exam was going to be conducted on the boy and, at this point, Taylor offered that the boy had spent the night with him alone about a week before Christmas and they watched movies together on a sofa bed. He said the boy confided in him during that visit that his cousins had sexually abused him.

Lt. Mallory then questioned Taylor about the discrepancies in his story, first denying he had never had the children for more than a few hours, stating he never kept either child alone, and failing to mention he had ever had the child spend the night at his home in the same bed with him. Lt. Mallory also pointed out that Taylor never mentioned the alleged child abuse involving the boy’s cousins when asked if anything concerned him about the children. Taylor admitted he never told anyone about the boy’s claims of sexual abuse by his cousins, including failing to mention it to the boy’s mother.

A search warrant was issued for Taylor’s home after the child described watching pornographic videos of boys engaged in sexual acts and referred to a mannequin Taylor kept in his home named Lola. A search of the home turned up two DVDs with gay pornography and the mannequin the boy described. The computer search history revealed someone had been searching topics such as “preteen nude boys.” The computer was seized and sent to the FDLE crime lab for further analysis.

Taylor is being held without bond in the Calhoun County Jail.