YEAR IN REVIEW
Anna Newhoff
NCR Reporter
Shocking acts of violence, rare weather, and personnel issues at the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office made headlines throughout 2025. Two western Nassau County residents were involved in domestic shootings, a winter storm brought snowball fights to the area, and five NCSO officers were arrested for allegedly double dipping.
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A Hilliard man shot and killed his wife, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law July 24 before turning the gun on himself. The lone survivor was a 5-year-old girl who notified neighbors of the massacre.
Christopher Bobby Rowell, 34, murdered Marissa Leara Rowell, 32, Sandra Gayle Fogarty, 71, and Alisha Lael Fogarty, 33, inside his home at 27148 W. 12th Ave.
The three women were pronounced dead at the scene. Rowell was pronounced “clinically dead” at UF Health Jacksonville. He officially died five days later when his organs were harvested for donation.
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper did not disclose how the child escaped the home. He said that the child is staying with relatives.
“She’s gonna need a lot of love, a lot of support, and a lot of help within the next few years. I would just ask, just pray for her,” Leeper said.
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A Callahan woman shot her husband in the middle of the road April 7, but did not kill him.
Julie Bao Murphy, 58, of 45530 Pickett St., faces felony charges for attempted murder, depriving 911 communications, and attempts, solicitation and conspiracy. Her 54-year-old husband, Sean Michael Murphy, was taken to UF Health Jacksonville to be treated for his injuries.
Security camera footage from a neighboring home on Pickett Street circulated the community and shows a man walking to the end of a driveway. A woman approaches from behind and fires a gun from behind the man as he steps into the street. Seven more shots can be heard in the video.
When deputies arrived, they found Sean Murphy in the street. Julie Murphy was detained by deputies and “made a spontaneous utterance indicating the firearm was on the kitchen counter along with her concealed carry permit,” according to her arrest report. The gun was found where she said it would be.
Murphy is still in custody at the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center as she awaits her trail.
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Snow, ice and sleet blanketed the ground in western Nassau County Jan. 22-23, marking a rare weather event for the region. Nassau County schools closed both days due to the unusual winter conditions, giving students a chance to enjoy what could be a once-in-a-lifetime snowfall.
The last time measurable snow fell in the area was Dec. 23, 1989, when nearly an inch dropped. Jacksonville International Airport received one-tenth of an inch of snow on Jan. 22 and Fernandina Beach received one-third of an inch according to the National Weather Service of Jacksonville.
In Hilliard, the snowfall was enough for residents to enjoy making snowballs and engage in playful snowball fights.
With temperatures reaching a high of 34 degrees and dipping to a low of 31 degrees Jan. 22, the winter weather lingered longer than anticipated, prompting Nassau County schools to remain closed an additional day.
The snowfall ranked as the fifth-highest one-day total on record for Jacksonville, with the highest recorded on Feb. 13, 1899, when the city received 1.9 inches of snow.
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A Callahan woman was shot as she stood beside her vehicle in Jacksonville Feb. 15. Family members identified her as Latasha Taylor, 42, of Callahan.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to the shooting, which occurred just after 10 p.m. in the 3000 block of Post Street in the Murray Hill neighborhood. Investigators arrested Latorray Collins, 38, Feb. 16. She is charged with attempted murder in the second degree (domestic).
Since the incident, the local community has rallied together not just to raise funds, but to celebrate the spirit and strength of a woman who continues to inspire everyone around her through community events.
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Five law enforcement officers with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office have been arrested and released without paying bail. A sixth employee avoided arrest with a termination offer. In total, the officers allegedly stole $14,007.86.
Sergeants Brian Blackwell, Wilfred “Bill” Quick, Joshua Huffmon and Kellam Paolillo and deputies Henry Holmberg III and Michael Brandon were all arrested the first week of July after a six-week investigation that stemmed from an internal tip.
According to a NCSO press release emailed July 3, the employees were suspected of violating “state law and agency policy by receiving pay by NCSO while also working an off-duty job.” The NCSO launched a criminal investigation that revealed the employees were submitting NCSO time sheets “while also being paid by a private employer while working ‘secondary employment’ off- duty.”
State and local law enforcement officers often work for private employers off-duty as added security or monitoring construction zones, “which enhances the safety and security for those private employers and the community as a whole,” according to the press release. But personnel cannot double-dip, claiming hours worked on-duty and off-duty simultaneously.
As a result five NCSO employees were terminated from the NCSO and arrested.
A sixth employee was offered a “pretrial diversion disposition of the criminal case in lieu of arrest” after the NCSO consulted the State Attorney’s Office. “While I sincerely appreciate the years of service of each of these employees and the sacrifices each has made while protecting and serving our community, especially as the law enforcement profession becomes increasingly difficult and dangerous, I am deeply disappointed in the actions of these former employees,” Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said.
He added that the NCSO only conducted random audits of employees who perform off-duty work, but will “now auditing every employee who engages in secondary employment, to prevent this from occurring again in the future.”
Leeper said, “Each and every employee of NCSO must be held accountable and I expect professionalism and integrity of all employees, at all times.”
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A total of 23 deviants were busted during a multi-state child predator sting.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference March 27 about its multi-phase operation targeting sexual predators. The sting, dubbed Operation Deviant Nightfall, and its follow-up phase, Deviant Sunrise, resulted in arrests across Florida and Georgia.
The operation began Jan. 15, with undercover detectives posing as 13 and 14-year-old children in online chat rooms and via several apps. Operation Deviant Nightfall lasted four days and led to 16 arrests. The follow-up phase, Deviant Sunrise, led to seven additional arrests over the span of two months.
The key distinction between the two phases is that suspects arrested during Deviant Nightfall physically attempted to meet the undercover officers at a designated location in Yulee. Those apprehended in Deviant Sunrise engaged in explicit conversations with the undercover officers, but never attempted to meet up.
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Three Hilliard residents were hospitalized after an April 10 plane accident. A total of six members of the Franklin family were onboard when the plane “lifted left” while landing at Davis Field in Folkston, Ga.
The family had traveled just north of Athens, Ga. for the day, according to the plane’s flight path information on Flightradar24. The plane left from North Georgia midafternoon.
It lifted left while landing just after 4 p.m., causing it to leave the runway. The plane came in contact with a tree and fuel spilled, resulting in a small fire.
According to Charlton County Sheriff Robert Phillips, firefighters from the Georgia Forestry Commission extinguished the flames. Charlton County firefighters and paramedics “rapidly arrived,” according to Phillips, and extricated one of the passengers. All six members of the Franklin family were alert at the crash scene, but Michael Franklin and Brenton Franklin, who had traveled in the front of the plane, were seriously injured. Trauma One helicopters airlifted them to UF Health Jacksonville. The family has continually recovered since the incident.
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An Amtrak train came to a complete stop June 29 after the train lost power in Boulogne. According to Amtrak Senior Public Relations Manager Beth Toll, at 10:30 a.m. Amtrak Train 41 was traveling from Chicago to Miami with 264 passengers on board. The train became disabled due to a mechanical problem with the engine, stopping near the County Road 121 and Yellow Rose Lane intersection in Boulogne. According to Nassau County Fire Rescue Fire Chief Brady Rigdon, patient treatment was provided on scene and four people were transported to the hospital for evaluation, all in stable condition.
During the delay, Amtrak staff provided passengers with updates, ice, water, snacks, and other food. At approximately 3:45 p.m., passengers were transported to the Jacksonville Amtrak Station via JTA buses.
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Multiple fires burned Nassau County in 2025.
The first fire of the year was March 26 in Hilliard. A brush fire caught spark at the north end of Georgia Street and Rooster Lane, spreading across 18.3 acres.
In July, two wildfires ignited in Hilliard. The first fire broke out June 27 off Rowe Road, consuming 128 acres. No injuries or structural damage were reported. The second fire ignited June 28 near Bay Road, burning 30 acres. No injuries or property damage were reported. Both fires happened on private property.
Just over a month later, two more wildfires began in Yulee and Bryceville. The first ignited in a marsh near the Nassau River and Interstate 95 Aug. 13, affecting 140 acres of state land in Four Creeks State Forest. According to a social media post made by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, the fire started after the marsh was struck by lightning. The second caught spark Aug. 14 near the Brandy Branch swamp, only burning 1 acre on private property.
A brush fire ignited in Hilliard Nov. 22, burning 43 acres near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Murrhee Road. The fire was under control within hours.
Two Hilliard homes were destroyed by fire in 2025. A home on Lake Hampton Road went up in a blaze Oct. 24. The fire began after one of the home’s occupants began cooking. The grease fire quickly spread from the stove top.
No one in the home was injured, but the house sustained significant fire and smoke damage. A fire also destroyed a home off Pike Road Dec. 5, with no injury or other property damage.
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The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall made a stop in Callahan April 17, with the small town welcoming visitors from neighboring counties and states as people came to pay their respects to the men and women who had their lives cut short by the Vietnam War.
The memorial stayed at the Northeast Florida Fairgrounds for several days, joined by additional tributes. Visitors could also reflect on the lives lost during the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001 and lives lost in Afghanistan and Iraq.