Two women shot dead during argument at Oakleaf Plantation 

ORANGE PARK – Two women were shot and killed in Oakleaf Plantation late Wednesday, and a 22-year-old man was in custody, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office reported. 

Taylor Marques Lomax was booked into the Clay County Jail and charged with two counts of second-degree murder after deputies were called to 4410 Hanging Moss Dr. 

According to the arrest report, deputies arrived at the home at 11:15 p.m. and found Noely Makenda, 21, and Jordyn Forrestier, 20, lying dead in the front yard. 

According to a press release from the agency, Lomax, Makenda and Forrestier were all in the U.S. Navy and roommates at the residency. Lomax’s wife, Jada Serenity, arrived at the home, and an argument ensued between the three women in the front yard. Lomax retrieved a gun and fired approximately 30 rounds at his roommates, CCSO said. Serenity then called 911. 

Lomax and Serentiy were taken to the sheriff’s office substation in Orange Park, where Lomax was eventually arrested. 

He is being held at the Clay County Jail without bond. 

Man jailed, teen shot in rush hour road rage incident on Blanding 

MIDDLEBURG – A 63-year-old man was arrested after several witnesses said he fired shots at a car in an apparent case of road rage during rush hour on Blanding Boulevard on Wednesday, Dec. 17. 

Ruben Rodriguez was charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder after Evan Sherman, 18, was shot in the thigh, while Wyatt Albritton, 17, and Jacob Dellinger, 18, weren’t injured. 

According to the arrest report, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office received several calls at 5:39 p.m. about a road rage incident in the 2400 block of Blanding. One caller said one of the cars then pulled into the HCA Middleburg ER. When deputies arrived, they learned Sherman was receiving treatment for his injury. 

Rodriguez was located on County Road 218 and Bluejay Drive. Once detained, deputies found a tan semi-automatic handgun tucked between the driver’s seat and the center console. 

Rodriguez’s bond was set at $750,009. His next court appearance was scheduled for Jan. 20. 

‘Operation Funny Money’ nets 253 illegal gambling machines in Orange Park, Jacksonville 

ORANGE PARK – Led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), state regulators and federal agents raided two Orange Park businesses on Thursday, Dec. 11, as well as one store in Jacksonville, and seized 230 illegal slot machines and 23 arcade-style “fish tables.” 

The crackdown, called “Operation Funny Money,” effectively targeted and dismantled gambling operations at all three sites. 

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Gaming Control Commission and the Internal Revenue Service assisted in the confiscation of the machines at unit 9 at 1212 Blanding Blvd., and units 6 and 7, at 69 College Dr. 

Discount Fashion Arcade, 5530 Timuquana Road in Jacksonville, was also part of the coordinated sweep. 

“The Florida Gaming Control Commission welcomes the opportunity to partner with our federal and local partners to stem illegal gambling in our state,” said Florida Gaming Control Commission Executive Director Alana Zimmer. “We will take the vital, necessary steps to shut down illegal casinos that are popping up across Florida. Our agents are constantly working to permanently close the doors of illegal gambling establishments, and we appreciate the collaboration with our federal partners.” 

All seized illegal gambling machines were transported to an FGCC storage facility for evidentiary purposes. Proceeds recovered from machines were collected and documented by HSI evidence technicians as part of the ongoing federal investigation. 

Orange Park man killed in crash on Doctors Lake Drive

ORANGE PARK - A 40-year-old man died at 9:14 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21, when the Florida Highway Patrol said he failed to negotiate a curve on Doctors Lake Drive at Admirals Walk Drive, causing his SUV to overturn and eject him.

According to the crash report, the man wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He was travelling southbound on Doctors Lake when he approached the curve. He over-corrected when he ran off the road, causing his vehicle to flip. He was thrown from the SUV, which caused his fatal injuries.

FHP doesn't release the names of anyone involved in accidents.

Two from Clay accused of participating in drug trafficking ring, 

JACKSONVILLE – A man from Orange Park pleaded guilty, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison, while a man from Green Cove Springs is awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, committing a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. 

Both are also accused of being part of a eight-man drug trafficking organization (DTO) and participating in a shooting on Interstate 95 when they boxed a subject’s car at speed in St. Johns County and fired dozens of shots at him. 

Yaquasia DelCarmen, 29, of Orange Park, was sentenced to eight years, while James Toney, 20, of Green Cove Springs, is awaiting sentencing. He faces a minimum penalty of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison.

Briyhon Johnson, 24, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute marijuana, aiding and abetting the commission of a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Johnson entered a guilty plea in August 2025. 

 According to court documents, Johnson served as an armed distributor for a Jacksonville-based DTO operated and led by Nathaniel Hatcher, III. Hatcher’s DTO trafficked bulk marijuana from Northern California to Jacksonville by smuggling the drugs on commercial airlines, shipping it through the U.S. mail system, and transporting it by vehicle across state lines. 

Once the marijuana arrived in Jacksonville, Johnson and other DTO members transported the marijuana to various short-term rental homes throughout Jacksonville. Johnson and other members of the DTO carried and possessed firearms at these residences to protect themselves, their drugs, and their drug proceeds during the drug sales. 

In addition to trafficking, transporting, smuggling and selling marijuana, Johnson was also responsible for carrying out violence on behalf of the DTO. 

On Sept. 18, 2023, Hatcher, James Toney, and other DTO members arranged a drug transaction with subjects they had met that evening in Jacksonville. The drug transaction failed when the other subjects never provided the promised marijuana, and instead, stole approximately $45,000 in cash from Hatcher and Toney. 

After the failed drug transaction, Hatcher contacted a former police officer who illegally accessed law enforcement databases to provide Hatcher with the names and home addresses of the subjects who had stolen the money. For nearly a month, Johnson and other DTO members tracked, surveilled, and cyberstalked the different subjects and their family members. 

On Oct. 15, 2023, Johnson and Toney traveled to the Jacksonville International Airport, broke into a rental car lot, and stole two vehicles with the intention of using one in the planned retaliation. Johnson and Toney had coordinated the theft through text messages. Two days later, Toney traveled to the Duval County courthouse for a scheduled court date in an unrelated pending criminal matter. Toney and other DTO members knew that one of the subjects from the Sept. 18 drug transaction also had a court date that day for a separate criminal matter. After the court concluded, Hatcher and other DTO members surveilled as the subject exited the Duval County courthouse, accompanied by a female subject, and entered his vehicle. 

Toney traveled to meet with Johnson, who provided Toney with a firearm. Johnson, Toney, Hatcher and Tavarius Blue were operating multiple vehicles, including a red sedan and a gray SUV, and followed the subject’s car from downtown Jacksonville to I-95. Darion Jerido was driving a separate sedan, acting as the lookout for the others and to keep pace with the subject’s sedan. Johnson was driving the red car, with Toney traveling in the passenger seat. Blue was driving the gray SUV, with Hatcher traveling in the passenger seat.

At approximately 11:20 a.m., during the pursuit along I-95 South, the red and the gray vehicles boxed the subject’s sedan into the left lane of traffic. Toney and Hatcher discharged dozens of rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition at the subject’s sedan. According to witness interviews, Johnson and Toney were both wearing masks. Following the shooting, the red and gray vehicles fled the scene. 

Deputies from the St. Johns County Sheriffs’ Office and emergency medical personnel quickly arrived on scene. The driver of the sedan, who was the male subject from the courthouse, sustained one gunshot wound but survived and was air-lifted to a trauma unit. The passenger, the female subject from the courthouse, did not sustain any gunshot wounds but did suffer injuries from broken glass. She was transported to a nearby hospital. The sedan sustained gunshots to the passenger side, the rear, the front and hood, the front windshield, the interior, and the engine block.

Deputies recovered approximately 25 spent 7.62 caliber shell casings. According to ballistics analysis, two different firearms were used during the shooting.  

In related court proceedings, Nathaniel Hatcher pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, committing a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Hatcher faces a minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, up to life plus 45 years. Hatcher has also agreed to forfeit over $2 million, which represents illicit proceeds derived from drug trafficking. 

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol. Asst. U.S. Attorney Elisibeth Adams is prosecuting it.

Clay County man pleads guilty to stealing gun from pawn shop 

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced Eric Joel Valdez, 24, of Clay County, pleaded guilty to theft of a firearm from a federal firearms licensee. Valdez faces up to 10 years in federal prison and payment of restitution to the victim. Sentencing is set for March 18. 

Valdez appeared in federal court on Sept. 30 on a writ from a state prison in New Jersey, where he is serving a 10-year prison sentence for two armed robberies involving the firearm stolen in Florida.  

According to court documents, on Nov. 11, 2022, Valdez entered Orange Park Gun & Pawn and requested to see a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol. As he examined the gun, he suddenly ran out the front door of the business and fled the area in a sedan-style car. Using street cameras and surveillance footage from the region, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office identified Valdez as the individual who stole the pistol. On Nov. 18, 2022, the Perth Amboy (New Jersey) Police Department conducted a stop of a car driven by Valdez, as part of an armed robbery investigation. After obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, the PAPD located the stolen Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, loaded with eleven rounds of ammunition, including one round in the chamber, in the car. 

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. Asst. U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Frein is prosecuting it.