Florida briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000

Man pleads guilty, then asks for death penalty

GAINESVILLE -- A man accused in the 1999 stabbing death of a travel agent pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is seeking the death penalty.

Ricardo Ignacio Gill, 31, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Alachua County. He told the Gainesville Sun he is innocent but would rather die for a crime he didn't commit than return to prison for life.

State Attorney Rod Smith has said he will seek the death penalty.

The body of Beverly Moore, 47, was found by her son on June 22, 1999. She died of multiple stab wounds.

Gill was arrested two days later and charged with murder, forgery and grand theft. A second man, Alex Javier Olmeda, 20, was charged with accessory after the murder and grand theft.

Gill, from Orlando, still faces an attempted first-degree murder charge in another case.

In January, Gill gave authorities statements about the stabbing and burning of a Gilchrist County woman. Gloria Feliciano, 49, of Waccasassa, was badly burned and had a knife in her back when she was found after the February 1999 assault.

Stepfather charged in death of 2-year-old

HOMESTEAD -- A 2-year-old who authorities said was severely beaten by his stepfather died after four days in a hospital. The man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Malique Earl Jean-Baptiste was airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital on Sunday. He was pronounced dead Wednesday.

The boy's stepfather, Duane Isaac Walker, 28, initially told Homestead police a television fell on the child at the Budget Motel, where they were living, Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Vanessa Cooks said.

Walker, who gave himself up to police, later said he had disciplined the child by beating him.

Kids left with $10, order not to follow mother

MIAMI -- A mother left her two young children at a Biscayne Boulevard gas station, gave them $10 and told them not to follow her as she walked away, police said Thursday.

Emelia Berrios, 44, was charged with two counts of child neglect, a third-degree felony, and now faces up to 10 years in jail, police said.

"This woman clearly made the decision that she no longer wanted her two children," said police spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz.

The children, a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year old girl, were left alone at the gas station at Northeast Fifth Avenue and 79th Street about 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"The kids were devastated. They began to cry, wandered around for a while," Schwartz said.

Eventually, they found their way to their former home at 176 NE 82 Ter., about seven blocks away, and spent the night with their mother's former roommate, Schwartz said.

The mother returned to the gas station at about 4 a.m., called police and said her children were being molested at her former apartment, Schwartz said. Police said they do not know how she knew where they were.

"The police investigated this (molestation allegation) and found this not to be so," Schwartz said.

The children are now in state care, Schwartz said.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.