2017 in Review: 'House of Prayer' murder was top crime story - Gainesville Sun

Indictment handed up; investigation still ongoing

Cindy Swirko @CindySwirko

The indictment of a 76-year-old woman described as a cult leader in connection with a toddler’s death decades ago, a shooting after a white supremacist’s speech in Gainesville, and embezzlement at the University of Florida top the crime news for 2017.

'House of Prayer' leader indicted, still under investigation

The indictment and unfolding story of Anna Young and her House of Prayer is one of the strangest cases in years. Young is accused of causing the death sometime between 1988 and 1989 of Emon Harper, who was 2 or 3 at the time.

Emon was starved and tortured, according to the indictment. Young in 2001 was convicted of child abuse for bathing a 12-year-old girl in detergent with bleach, causing burns to the girl’s skin.

Young operated the House of Prayer in 700 block of Southeast 138th Avenue off Wacahoota Road near Micanopy from about 1985 to 1995. It served as a boarding house for adults but Young also housed children.

Former residents and law enforcement officials said Young struck fear into residents yet also had a charismatic personality. At the time, few people dared question the way she treated both adults and children.

Alachua County sheriff’s deputies had investigated Young on other suspicious activity at the time but did not file any charges.

That ended when Young’s daughter, Joy Fluker, and an Air Force veteran who lived at House of Prayer as a child, came forward with information. A cold case investigation began and an indictment was handed up this month.

Young may have abused other children in Alachua County and elsewhere. Investigations are continuing here and in other states.

Weapon fired after Spencer rally, protest

The appearance of white supremacist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida filled Alachua County with dread. More than 1,000 local and state law enforcement officers were ready in case skirmishes, or worse, happened between Spencer supporters and the protesters who vastly outnumbered them.

All the marching and chanting resulted in a minor incident or two, and a collective sigh of relief from law enforcement.

But once the speech was over and people began leaving UF’s cultural plaza just off Southwest 34th Street, the fear was realized.

Three men in a car began jawing with some bystanders at 34th and Archer Road. One man jumped out of the car with a handgun and fired. No one was hit and three Spencer supporters were arrested that night on attempted murder charges.

Tyler Tenbrink, 29, the suspected shooter, was later charged by the State Attorney's Office with attempted murder and Colton Fears, 29, with being an accessory to attempted murder.

William Fears, 30, Colton’s brother, has not yet been charged by prosecutors.

Tenbrink and the Fears brothers are from Texas and traveled to Gainesville specifically to support Spencer when he spoke at UF on Oct. 19. The trio was out front in their support and were interviewed by media outlets before the speech.

UF parking, housing embezzlement scandals

The year was a banner one for suspected embezzlement from UF.

UF senior housing director Azfar Mian, 42, was first arrested Sept. 18 on grand theft charges in connection with $180,000 in funds taken from UF.

Additional charges were filed when a credit union account from which $470,000 had been withdrawn was discovered. The account was in the name of UF’s residence hall association.

A grand theft complaint was also filed against associate financial services director Stina Schoneck, 39.

Mian, Schoneck and others in the housing office have been fired.

Meanwhile at UF’s Transportation and Parking Services department, Tiffany Nichole Robinson is the suspected ringleader of an enterprise in which she wrote fraudulent checks and got others to cash them.

Robinson, 38, was a fiscal assistant at the department before her March arrest. She is accused of stealing about $351,000 from the university by creating at least 1,155 fraudulent checks to herself and others over four years.

The other suspects are accused of cashing the checks written to them and returning most of the money to Robinson, but keeping some for themselves. Police have arrested 25 people in the case.

Police allege Robinson created fake parking decal numbers and issued fraudulent checks to herself and others as refunds for those decals.

Troubled attorney faces criminal charges

Gainesville attorney Elizabeth Touchton was in legal trouble this year.

A sworn complaint was recently filed against Touchton, 46, for exploitation of the elderly for her involvement with two sisters. It’s alleged that Touchton, in conjunction with a daughter of one of the sisters, stole money from them, rewrote a will, and kept other family members from seeing the sisters.

In March a sworn complaint was filed against Touchton alleging she mishandled the money of a client, Mavis Jean Gold-Fishler, in a 2015 probate lawsuit. Touchton in November pleaded no contest and was sentenced to four years' probation.

In May, Touchton was arrested on multiple fraud charges alleging she opened credit cards in the name of her former stepdaugther. She also pleaded no contest in November.

The Florida Bar last year launched an investigation of Touchton based on client complaints. Touchton agreed to the revocation of her law license.

Human remains found in Newberry septic tank

In August, Alachua County sheriff's investigators found human remains in a Newberry septic tank.

The tank was being pumped because of plumbing problems when the bones were discovered by a worker.

A long forensic process was expected, as the bones had to be cleaned of biohazards before medical examiners could begin their work to try to attempt identification.

Detectives are looking into when the septic tank had been installed and who had access to it, and examined missing persons reports nationwide.

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