Grace McAlister
Reporter1@riverbendnews.org
In the early hours of Wednesday, Aug. 17, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) was contacted about a vehicle fire near the intersection of Northwest County Road 143 and North West County Road 146. There, investigators discovered a burned vehicle that contained a deceased body in the floorboard of the passenger seat. The body was transported to Jacksonville Medical Center, where the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot to the head. At this time, the HCSO contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the State Fire Marshalls Office for crime scene and investigative assistance.
Through investigative efforts, the victim was identified as an individual reported missing from Broward County who had last been in the company of 24-year-old Akeeme Cordell Brown.
Upon leaving the scene, Brown broke into the home of an elderly couple. Once the couple arrived home, they found Brown in their bedroom, where he proceeded to hold them both at gunpoint for over five hours. According to a report from the Hamilton County Sherrif’s Office, the male resident attempted to retrieve his firearm to protect himself, only to be pistol-whipped by Brown.
The man convinced Brown mid-afternoon that same day to let him retrieve his truck and drive him wherever Brown wished to go. Once inside the vehicle, the man shot Brown with a gun he had inside his vehicle. The elderly man then contacted authorities to report that he had shot Brown. Investigators from the HCSO, FDLE and the State Attorney's Office responded to the residence.
Prior to these events, on Feb. 20, 2020, a warrant was obtained, charging Brown with one count of manslaughter and two counts of attempted manslaughter. Bond was agreed to be set by the defense counsel and the State at $5,000 for the manslaughter charge and $2,500 each for the attempted murder charges for a total of $10,000. The only conditions imposed were that Brown had no contact with the victims or their families, he must call into pretrial services once a week, and be permitted to reside in New York. No provision was made that Brown be outfitted with a GPS monitor.
On June 4, 2021, the State filed a motion to revoke Brown's pretrial release based on a new burglary charge to a conveyance and a criminal mischief charge. On June 15, 2021, Judge Michael Usan denied the State's motion and reinstated the same bond and conditions. To reinstate the bond, Judge Usan again reiterated that Brown was to reside in New York and that he was to "call in" to pretrial services to verify his location. Beginning on July 13, 2021, Brown's court notices were being returned, as he was no longer residing at his listed address. However, the judge never inquired about his whereabouts.
Brown had already violated his pretrial release by failing to reside in New York, as evidenced by the newest charge of burglary in Broward County. Prior to this offense, in February 2021, a stalking injunction was taken out against Brown. At this point, the State filed its motion to revoke Brown's bond, as he had committed a new felony, failed to abide by his bond conditions of residing in New York, and had an injunction issued against him for stalking. Despite being ordered to reside in New York, Brown resided in Florida, where he proceeded to victimize innocent people in Hamilton and Broward Counties. On Wednesday, Brown was found to have succumed to his gunshot wound.