Murder investigation sparks elimination of abandoned homes in Quincy

📷

QUINCY, Fla. (WCTV) -- After murder and arson at an abandoned home, the City of Quincy is launching a new program to eliminate the eyesores.

Police say three people were found dead at 622 7th Street.

There are two abandoned houses directly to the left of that home. On its right, there's another vacant and boarded up home.

Quincy resident Dorothy Key says all abandoned houses should be knocked down.

"Clean them up. If they demolish them, then there would be nobody within the house when it catches fire and burns up and stuff like that. I think that's what needs to be done," she said.

Quincy city officials say they're working on speeding up the process that determines if building owners should be allowed to voluntarily bring their buildings into compliance, or if the city should take legal steps to tear down the structures.

Quincy resident Ida Mae Lockett said, "I think that's a great idea. It's something we should've done years ago."

Some of the abandoned houses around town have overgrown lawns with boarded windows and doors.

City officials say these type of buildings are often used for illegal activities such as drug dealing, drug use and prostitution.

"That would keep down crime. It'll be a safer place for people to live and you would not have individuals, homeless people, staying in those kind of homes. Hopefully we'll find somewhere else for them to live," Lockett said.

City officials say the overall issue will be discussed, with possibly reviewing or changing city ordinance, at the next regular commission meeting. The meeting is next Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

REPRINTED FROM wctv.tv

Warrant: Body found at abandoned house was homeless person, suspects arrested

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Police say two people have been arrested and charged with the murder of the unidentified person found in the backyard of an abandoned home on Nov. 28. According to court documents, the murder happened on June 11, 2018.

Kethan Anderson, 38, and Anna Smith, 31, are now in custody and charged with the murder. Anderson was arrested Monday morning in Hereford, and Smith was arrested Friday night in Burleson, near Fort Worth.

The skeletal remains of the unidentified victim were found on November 28, 2018 in the backyard of an abandoned home in the area of 2100 20th Street. The Lubbock County Medical Examiner’s Office is still working to identify the victim who is believed to be a male.

According to the arrest warrant for Anderson and Smith, they, along with the victim, were all homeless and did not know the victim prior to the incident. According to the warrant, Anderson bragged to numerous people since the death of the unidentified victim, about choking a man and killing him in a backyard. Smith told police she caught the victim exposing himself over her while she had been asleep. The statement goes on to say Anderson and Smith left the house and returned an hour and a half later and confronted the man about exposing himself to her. Smith admitted to police she pulled a knife on the victim and Anderson tackled him to the ground. She admitted to police she held the victim down on the ground while Anderson strangled the man. She told police they left him laying in the precise location where the skeletal remains were found.

Detectives with the Lubbock Police Department and Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office immediately began an investigation into the death. Based on information gathered, it appears the individual is a victim of a homicide.

Detectives quickly identified Anderson and Smith as suspects in the murder, and arrest warrants were issued the evening of November 30th. Later that night, Smith was arrested by the Burleson Police Department and is now in the Johnson County Corrections Center. Just before 10 a.m. on December 3rd, Anderson was arrested by Deaf Smith County deputies in Hereford, Texas.

Both suspects are expected to be transferred to the Lubbock County Detention Center at a later date and will be held on a $200,000 bond each.

REPRINTED FROM newschannel10.com

2 men found dead inside abandoned house in Smith County

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation after two men were found dead inside a home on Dillehay Hollow Road on Thursday night.

The bodies were discovered around 7 p.m. inside what appears to be an abandoned home in the 100 block of Dillehay Hollow Road.

The TBI said the deaths appear to be the result of homicide. It is not known how long the bodies were inside the house.

The victims have been identified as Devon Clark, 38, of Murfreesboro, and Shannon Smith, 34, of Sparta.

REPRINTED FROM wsmv.com