BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A Bradford County jury acquitted Johnnie Bernard Brown of murdering his girlfriend but convicted the 47-year-old of murdering his girlfriend’s two daughters.
A medical examiner said during the trial, which concluded on October 1, that the defendant’s girlfriend, Quinqune Robinson, 49, was shot six times while Robinson’s two daughters, 25-year-old Wynshay Roddy and Danesha Sims, 27, were shot four times.
According to an incident report, Brown told a Bradford sheriff’s detective that he and Robinson were in an argument that escalated into a physical altercation.
“Brown stated that Roddy and Sims joined the altercation and came at him with knives,” wrote a detective. “Brown stated that he retrieved the firearm and began firing toward Roddy, Robinson, and Sims. Brown stated that the three began running, and he ‘went mad’ and continued to fire.”
The defendant also said the injuries on his arm were caused by the women attempting to cut him with knives.
The detective reported that Sims was found with a knife in her hand and that two other knives were found on the floor near the victims.
The report also said that an 11-year-old witness, who was in the home at the time of the shootings, said that Grandpa, identified as Brown, was hurting Grandma (Robinson) and her two aunts, and Grandpa said they should have stayed out of it.
Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith said the county received a 911 call at 2:03 a.m., March 12, 2024.
In a recording of the call, the 11-year-old girl made and subsequent callbacks from the operator to the caller, the girl refused to describe what was happening in the home and simply asked deputies to come to the Lawtey residence as soon as possible.
In the first 911 call, the child says some inaudible words to the operator. The child then screams, and Brown can be heard in the background shouting, “Ya’ll jumped on me in the house.”
A woman can be heard saying, “Don’t hurt me.”
The first call is then terminated, the operator calls back, and the 11-year-old answers.
Operator: “This is Jennifer from the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office. We received a 911 call from this phone number. Is everything okay?”
Child: “No. Come now.”
Operator: “What’s going on?”
Child: “Come now. Just come.”
The second call is terminated, and the operator calls back twice, once receiving a voice mail greeting. On the second call, the child answers again, and the operator asks for a street address. While the girl is responding, the audio ends.
Smith said Deputy Lakeisha Lewis responded to the call and discovered Brown in the front yard, bleeding from an injury.
As Sergeant Logan Hough arrived on the scene to assist, the 11-year-old came out of the mobile home and told Lewis that three family members were in the house, deceased.
Hough then went inside the trailer and discovered the three victims in a back room of the structure. All three died from gunshot wounds. Smith said the door of the room appeared to have been breached, and one of the victims had a knife in her hand.
“It looks like maybe they tried to run and hide for cover,” he said.
The sheriff said that neighbors told deputies that residents of the home on Northeast 17th Avenue had been arguing all day Monday, which apparently triggered the Tuesday morning tragedy.
The teen, now 12, testified during the trial.
She said the defendant and three women “got into it” before the shooting.
