More than two years after being accused of shooting and killing Chad Oulson in the Cobb Theatres Grove 16 movie theater in Wesley Chapel, Brooksville’s Curtis Reeves will take another step towards finally having a trial when he stands before Judge Susan Barthle on Feb. 20 of next year.
Barthle is expected to set a trial date at the hearing at the Dade City courtroom, after dozens of court appearances, delays and the original judge, Pat Siracusa, recusing himself last July.
The retired Tampa police captain, who is now 73, is accused of fatally shooting Oulson, 43 (at the time), during an argument on Jan. 13, 2014, a killing that gained national attention. Reeves was charged on Jan. 31, 2014, with Murder in the Second Degree and Aggravated Battery, the second charge because his bullet also grazed Oulson’s wife Nicole, who threw her arm in front of her husband to protect him as the shot was fired.
According to the police report, Reeves was sitting behind Oulson and his wife in the theater when Reeves confronted Oulson about texting on his cell phone during the movie previews.
After Reeves advised the theater management about his grievance, and when he returned to his seat, he and Oulson exchanged words. Oulson turned and threw a bag of popcorn at Reeves, who then pulled out a .380 caliber handgun and shot Oulson in the chest. According to witnesses, there were no punches thrown during the disagreement.
Reeves said afterwards that he was afraid of being attacked. Oulson was transported to Florida Hospital Tampa, where he passed away.
Reeves spent six months in Pasco County jail before posting $150,000 bail in July of 2014.
Reeves’ attorney, Richard Escobar, said in October that he would be using the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law (statutes 776.012 and 776.013), arguing that his client acted in self defense.
Florida’s first Stand Your Ground law was passed in 2005, basically stating that people can stand their ground in a dispute if they think retreating will result in their own death or great bodily harm to themselves.
Wiregrass Ranch High Teen’s Suicide Investigation Concludes
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has concluded that there is no proof Wiregrass Ranch freshman Tovonna Holton committed suicide in June because a nude Snapchat video of her was circulated.
“Our investigation revealed that it was not directly a result of that, but possibly due to other issues involving her mother and the fact they did not get along,’’ said PCSO spokesman Melanie Snow.
Levon Holton-Teamer told WFLA-TV on June 5 that after sending her daughter to clean her room, she found Tovonna in the bathroom in a puddle of blood. Holton-Teamer said hours before her daughter killed herself, she had found out the video had been posted to Snapchat.
“Tovonna would say, ‘Mommy, I owe them, I owe them,” Holton-Teamer told WFLA-TV. “I said, ‘What do you mean you owe them?’ I couldn’t understand what was wrong.”
A Facebook post by a friend and family member claimed that Tovonna had been filmed nude in a shower, and had been cyber-bullied.
“We found no evidence that her decision to do that was based on a Snapchat photo,’’ Snow said.
The story went viral, being picked up by many major metropolitan newspapers, cable news channels and social media. A photo of Tovonna with the hashtag #stopbullying was shared more than 5,000 times on Facebook (although it has since been removed).
A #stopbullying campaign was launched as a result.
Snow, however, said there was no evidence that what happened to Tovonna met the criteria for a cyber crime, which is when a computing device is used to commit an offense.
Wesley Chapel Man Dead After Pulling Into Traffic
Wesley Chapel’s Thomas Burruano, 72, was killed on July 15 when his 2004 Dodge Stratus was hit by two vehicles on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in front of the Taco Bell at the Hollybrook Plaza.
Traffic northbound on BBD had to be redirected through the Publix parking lot after Burruano drove around other cars waiting at a stop sign to enter the road. His vehicle was hit by a 1998 Lincoln Navigator driven by 42-year-old Kenny Dickinson of Wesley Chapel, which was heading north on BBD in the outside right turn lane. Burruano’s vehicle was hit on its driver’s side and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dickinson was treated at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel with minor injuries and was released. No charges were filed.
Winter Haven Woman Killed In WC Accident
A Winter Haven woman was killed in Wesley Chapel July 18 after a head-on collision on S.R. 54., and two children who were in the car suffered serious injuries.
Tiffanie Michelle Hughes, 33, was driving her 2016 Toyota 4Runner westbound on S.R. 54 west of Loury Dr. (near the Trinity Church of Wesley Chapel) when she collided with a 2009 Mazda CX-9 driven by Wesley Chapel’s Koosh Raahul Patel, which crossed over the center line.
Patel, 17, was driving with 52-year-old Raahul Vallabhbhai, also of Wesley Chapel. They suffered minor injuries that did not require transportation to a hospital.
Hughes was transported to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and later died from the injuries she suffered in the crash. The children, two boys ages 10 and 11, were transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa with serious injuries.
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