Throughout the year, Ocala-News.com reported on numerous arrests, investigations, and sentences related to criminal acts throughout Ocala and Marion County.
The following list features the most-read crime stories that garnered considerable attention over the past year:
- In October, a trucker from Texas was arrested on Interstate 75 in Marion County after he was allegedly caught hauling nearly 30 “kilo-sized” bags of cocaine inside a semi-truck. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2025.
- In August, a drunk driver who was driving at nearly three times the legal blood alcohol content limit was sentenced to life in prison for causing an accident on U.S. Highway 441 in Ocala that claimed the lives of a mother and her daughter. The fatal crash occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 2021.
- In November, Susan Lorincz was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the manslaughter of her neighbor, AJ Owens.
- Also in November, a Walmart employee in Ocala was arrested after she was allegedly captured on video stealing over $800 from the store. Her arraignment hearing is scheduled to take place on December 26, 2024.
- A few weeks before both the arrest and the sentencing, a 34-year-old stepmother from Marion County was arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior after her husband allegedly walked in on her having sex with his teenage son from a previous relationship.
- Early in 2024, an Ocala man was found guilty of committing “series of alarming crimes” at the Paddock Mall in 2022, just three days after he had been released from prison. On January 31, 2024, he was sentenced to life in prison.
- In June, a suspected drunk driver was charged with two counts of DUI manslaughter for allegedly causing a fatal accident at the intersection of N Pine Avenue and NW 20th Street in Ocala, which claimed the lives of two men. An arraignment hearing was held in July, and the case is set to go to trial in February 2025.
- In March, an elderly Ocala landlord who had been declared missing was found dead from a suspected suicide, just one day after she skipped a court date related to an incident with one of her tenants.
- In April, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office identified a man and woman who were found deceased from gunshot wounds in Belleview.
- In May, an Ocala man was arrested for DUI manslaughter after his pickup truck sideswiped a bus carrying over 50 farm workers on West State Road 40, leaving 8 people dead, 8 people critically hurt, and over 30 others in need of medical attention. The pickup truck’s driver has pleaded not guilty to the DUI manslaughter charges, and his case is scheduled to go to trial in January 2025.
- In October, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that detectives are actively investigating the death of a 6-month-old infant. The child died in an Orlando-area hospital on August 16, days after being found “unresponsive” by his mother in Belleview.
- In September, during a regular Ocala City Council meeting, Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken stated that at least five individuals in the Ocala area had died from fentanyl overdoses in a two-week span.
- In March, a 20-year-old man was arrested after allegedly leading deputies on a 130-mph chase on Interstate 75 in Marion County. The case is scheduled to go to trial in late February 2025.
- In June, a black bear cub was fatally shot in northeast Marion County, and state wildlife officials sought help from the public to find the individual(s) responsible.
- Also in June, the Ocala Police Department launched a homicide investigation after a 24-year-old man was shot and killed in northeast Ocala.
Every Friday through the rest of the year, as well as December 30 (Monday) and December 31 (Tuesday), Ocala-News.com will publish year-end stories about various topics, including all the new restaurants, large real estate transactions, and developments that came up in 2024. Check back every Friday to read the next installment.