Three jailed following Keystone Heights drug raid

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Three people were arrested following a drug raid at a 6308 Bucknell Avenue on Feb. 27.
James Lee Hunt, Lisa Renee Hunt and Kristian Fredenburg all were charged with a variety of drug and weapon charges after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office’s Targeted Narcotic Team, Organized Crime Section and the SWAT team swarmed into the mobile home, car and shed shortly before noon to serve a search warrant.
James Hunt, 34, was charged with seven counts of possessing guns and ammo by a convicted felon, as well as possession methamphetamine, an assortment of pills without a prescription, drug paraphernalia and using his home to conduct business.
Lisa Hunt, 33, was charged with possessing pills without a prescription, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, while Fredenburg, 42, was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine. She was later charged with hiding methamphetamine and a straw in her shoe while being booked into the Clay County Jail.
“Information came from the community that the residents at this address were involved in the sale and use of illegal narcotics,” the sheriff’s office said. “After an investigation into the complaint, we obtained and served a search warrant. We seized seven firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition in the possession of a convicted felon, numerous pieces of drug paraphernalia, prescription medications (Oxycodone, Methadone, Morphine, Adderall, Xanax) and 3.5 grams of methamphetamine.”

Binderim back in Clay to face Fleming Island murder charges
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The man charged in the murder of a Fleming Island woman whose body was found in a South Georgia landfill returned to Clay County Tuesday.
Corey Louis Binderim, 45, was formally charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence after Susan Mauldin was reported missing in October and her body eventually was found in January. Binderim had been in jail in Jacksonville facing fraud charges before being transported to the Clay County Jail.
Officials with the State Attorney’s Office, Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI said Binderim became a person of interest after Mauldin demanded a refund for work not done on her bathroom. According to affidavit for an arrest warrant, Mauldin paid $12,000 to have her bathroom remodeled. He demolished the bathroom in early 2019, but he didn’t return to rebuild it.
Binderim was supposed to meet Mauldin on Oct. 23, according to the warrant, but he didn’t show. A day later, a friend became worried because Mauldin’s car was in the garage, but the 65-year-old woman didn’t answer the door. She then was reported missing on Oct. 25.
Surveillance video showed Binderim’s truck backed up to Mauldin’s garage at 8 a.m. on Oct. 24. He left a few minutes later. An hour after that, he dropped off approximately 300 pounds of trash at the Rosemary Hill Waste Management Facility in Green Cove Springs. Trash from that dump eventually was transferred to the Chesser Island Landfill in Folkston, Georgia. Mauldin’s remains were unearthed at that landfill on Jan. 29.
Binderim now is being held in Clay County without bond.

Local man charged with two counts of forcing sex on 8-year-old
ORANGE PARK – A 36-year-old man known to an 8-year-old girl as “Uncle Twuan” was arrested last week and charged with two counts of sexual battery on a child.
According to the arrest report, Antwuan Lekeith Partee, of Orange Park, ordered the girl to perform a sexual act on him while he was babysitting when her mother went to the store in either October or November. He also was charged with using his genitals to touch the child inappropriately.
The victim told her mother she was afraid when Partee was supposed to babysit again last week. That’s when the girl told the mother of the encounter from a few months ago. An arrest warrant was issued following an investigation by the Special Victims Section.
Partee was out on bond after being arrested Feb. 2 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His bond for the new chargers were denied. His next court appearance is March 23.

Burglary charges continue to pile up for Jacksonville man
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Jacksonville man already in the Clay County Jail facing charges for a rash of car break-ins, was charged with another 10 break-ins as the investigation by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office continued.
Kwontell Travis Swain, 21, is being held without bond. He originally was arrested on Jan. 2 also faces charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon, grand theft auto, armed kidnapping, attempting to elude a police officer and driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Keystone Heights woman killed after rear-ending tractor-trailer
JACKSONVILLE – A woman from Keystone Heights was killed Feb. 26 when she ran into the back of a tractor trailer that was slowing down for congestion on Interstate 295.
Ashley Nicole Galan, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene after her Nissan was wedged under the trailer at Duval Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Local man caught hiding in turtle hole after robbing house
MELROSE – Two Clay County men were arrested after a neighbor saw them loading stolen property into their truck.
Justin Lee Harris, 28, of Melrose, and Justin Michael Buchler, 36, of Keystone Heights,
When deputies arrived to the house, the men ran. Buchler tried to bury himself in a gopher tortoise next when a sheriff’s office K-9 found him. In addition to being charged with possession a weapon as a convicted weapon, he was charged with several counts of burglary, possession of methamphetamine and controlled substances, property damage, criminal mischief and two counts of endangering a threatened species.
Harris was charged with possessing a weapon by a convicted felon, burglary and damaging property.
Putnam County deputies said jewelry, tools, radio-controlled cars, collectibles, computers a dirt bike, trailer and antique clock, all totaling about $30,000, were recovered.

Drugs, weapon found in car after couple falls asleep at gas pumps
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A couple were arrested for a variety of drug charges Feb. 28 after deputies with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office found them asleep at a convenience store gas pump at 2:24 a.m.
Katrina Rose Connors, 24, of Keystone Heights, was charged with possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, while her passenger, Jackson Richard Perint, 23, of Keystone Heights, was arrested for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and trafficking Fentanyl and methamphetamine.

‘Intoxicated’ woman complains about bird, then fights with family
ORANGE PARK – A woman was arrested Feb. 27 after she fought with family members and Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies in an apparent alcohol-fueled argument.
Kristyn Elizabeth McClees, 33, of Orange Park, was charged with battery on a police officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of domestic battery and resisting arrest after she slapped and punched a man and woman at their home, as well as stabbing the man’s bedroom door as he tried to escape, according to the arrest report.
The argument started when a man and his mother were visiting a sick friend at the hospital when they got several calls from McClees about a bird flying in their home. They returned to find her “highly intoxicated.” That triggered another fight as one of the victims tried to shield McClees’ 1-year-old child from the argument.
Because of her level of intoxication, she was evaluated and released from the Orange Park Medical Center. Her bond was set at $45,011.