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    Tampa Bay briefs

    By Times staff writers

    © St. Petersburg Times, published March 19, 2001


    Woman found dead by roommate identified

    ST. PETERSBURG -- Police are waiting for the medical examiner to determine the cause of death for a St. Petersburg woman found dead by her roommate Saturday evening.

    The only new information available from police Sunday was the woman's identity: Jamee Hogan, 48, who had lived at 21st Street and Queensboro Avenue S for about a year. Previously, she lived in Indian Rocks Beach and Largo, among other places.

    St. Petersburg police have labeled Hogan's death suspicious, pending the outcome of the autopsy.

    Rick Stelljes, a spokesman for the St. Petersburg police, said Hogan had upper body trauma, but detectives were uncertain whether she was beaten or whether she suffered the injuries another way. Hogan had a history of seizures, police said Saturday.

    Neighbors described Hogan as a friendly woman who walked the streets regularly and always said hello, even to strangers. She often sat on a milk crate outside her home, smoking a cigarette or talking to children who gathered by her house to catch the school bus.

    Hogan was found dead by her roommate about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

    Man accused of sexually assaulting acquaintance

    CLEARWATER -- A 24-year-old man with a gun is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman he knows.

    Jonathan Wortham of 1661 Sherbrook Road was arrested Sunday on charges of sexual battery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm and violation of probation, said sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie.

    Shortly after midnight Sunday, Wortham invited the woman to his home.

    When she refused his advances, investigators say, Wortham grabbed a 9mm handgun and raped her.

    Wortham has denied that charge and claimed the sex was consensual.

    Deputies also found at Wortham's home another handgun, a rifle, a switch blade and ammunition. Wortham is on probation for an aggravated assault conviction, Dennie said.

    St. Petersburg man shot in Tampa after fight at club

    TAMPA -- A 24-year-old St. Petersburg man was in stable condition Sunday at St. Joseph's Hospital after being shot in the face and arm in Tampa. The shooting stemmed from a fight at a Tampa club near N Armenia and Waters avenues, Tampa police said.

    Xayaphet Chith fled the club with friends and was shot with a small-caliber handgun about 1 1/2 miles to the south as he sat in a car at Powhattan and St. Peter. His friends drove him to Hillsborough and Habana avenues where he was picked up by Fire Rescue. The suspects were driving a beige four-door Cadillac.

    Tampa man dies in one-car accident on slick road

    CARROLLWOOD -- As a birthday gift, Mauricio Suarez planned to take his father to lunch Sunday. Instead, the father spent the day mourning the loss of his only son, who died early Sunday in a one-car accident on a slick road in Carrollwood Village.

    The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Suarez, a 25-year-old former U.S. Marine, skidded about 4 a.m. while driving north on South Village Drive near Lowell Road. His car hit a median and swerved. The left rear hit one tree before crashing head-on into another tree.

    He was wearing a shoulder strap but no lap belt, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Rod Reder. Investigators think he was driving too fast on the curvy road, which may have been wet because of the median sprinklers, Reder said.

    He may have been driving home. The accident occurred about a mile or two from his house at 15811 Countrybrook St.

    Suarez was dead when Fire Rescue arrived, said Reder. But he apparently did not die right away. Suarez said deputies told him his son called Fire Rescue.

    "They think he called 911 because he had his cell phone," Suarez said.

    Mauricio Suarez, a 1993 Hillsborough High School graduate, was an outgoing person who married his sweetheart and joined the Marine Corps, his father said.

    In November, he began working as a customer service representative for CapitalOne in Tampa, Suarez said. Although divorced from Sanna Suarez, he left the Marine Corps to be closer to his 6-year-old son, Andreas, who lives with his mother in North Carolina.

    Suarez said his son talked about becoming a supervisor. He would have celebrated his 26th birthday next Monday.

    "He was building his life again outside the Marine Corps," Suarez said. "It's a big loss."

    Mother accused in slaying of 4-year-old twin boys

    PONTE VEDRA BEACH -- A 31-year-old woman is being held without bail after police said she fatally shot her 4-year-old twin boys.

    The bodies of the children -- James Richard and John Thomas Demeniuk -- were found in their home in a gated residential community, a St. Johns County sheriff's deputy said. Deputies went to the home Saturday after getting a call from someone who came home, according to Deputy Diana Bryant.

    Leslie Ormandy Demeniuk was at the home. She was taken to Beaches Baptist Hospital before being arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of murder, Bryant said.

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