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Hundreds apply for restitution for abuse suffered at Florida reform schools

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Hundreds apply for restitution for abuse suffered at Florida reform schools


Hundreds of people who say they suffered physical or sexual abuse at two state-run reform schools in Florida are in line to receive tens of thousands of dollars in restitution from the state, after Florida lawmakers formally apologized for the horrors they endured as children more than 50 years ago.

At its peak in the Jim Crow 1960s, 500 boys were housed at what is now known as the Dozier School for Boys, most of them for minor offenses such as petty theft, truancy or running away from home. Orphaned and abandoned children were also sent to the school, which was open for more than a century.

In recent years, hundreds of men have come forward to recount brutal beatings, sexual assaults, deaths and disappearances at the notorious school in the panhandle town of Marianna. Nearly 100 boys died between 1900 and 1973 at Dozier, some of them from gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma. Some of the boys’ bodies were shipped back home. Others were buried in unmarked graves that researchers only recently uncovered.

Ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, the state of Florida received more than 800 applications for restitution from people held at the Dozier school and its sister school in Okeechobee, Fla., attesting to the mental, physical and sexual abuse they endured at the hands of school personnel. Last year, state lawmakers allocated $20 million to be equally divided among the schools’ surviving victims.

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Bryant Middleton was among those who spoke publicly in 2017, when lawmakers formally acknowledged the abuse. Middleton recalled being beaten six times for infractions that included eating blackberries off a fence and mispronouncing a teacher’s name after being sent to Dozier between 1959 and 1961.

“I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime. A lot of brutality, a lot of horror, a lot of death,” said Middleton, who served more than 20 years in the Army, including combat in Vietnam. “I would rather be sent back into the jungles of Vietnam than to spend one single day at the Florida School for Boys.”

Allegations of abuse have hung over the Dozier school since soon after it opened in 1900, with reports of children being chained to the walls in irons. When then-Gov. Claude Kirk visited in 1968, he found the institution in disrepair with leaky ceilings, holes in walls, no heating for the winters and buckets used as toilets.

“If one of your kids were kept in such circumstances,” Kirk said then, “you’d be up there with rifles.”

Florida officials closed Dozier in 2011, following state and federal investigations and news reports documenting the abuses.

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As the men who were victimized at the schools wait for restitution, their resilience is being honored in the new film “Nickel Boys”, which was adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Whitehead has said Dozier served as the model for the book, which he hopes raises awareness “so that the victims and their stories are not forgotten.”

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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‘The naughty list:’ Wrong tag leads to arrest of wanted Central Florida man

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‘The naughty list:’ Wrong tag leads to arrest of wanted Central Florida man


VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A wanted Central Florida man was caught after deputies noticed that his car had a wrong tag, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

In a release on Wednesday, deputies said they initially spotted a car with a tag that didn’t belong on it.

“A little research showed (the driver) had an open warrant for occupied burglary,” the release reads. “He tried to accelerate and ram his way out of trouble, but that only led to more charges.”

Body-camera footage shows deputies confront and ultimately catch the driver, identified as 33-year-old Dillon Cottrell.

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Dillon W. Cottrell, 33, of Bunnell (Volusia Sheriff’s Office)

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies also recovered a trafficking amount of fentanyl and other drugs.

Now, Cottrell faces charges of burglary, criminal mischief, fleeing law enforcement, trafficking in fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing law enforcement.

He is held without bond. His passenger, Kelli Jo Hands, was also arrested, deputies added.

Kelli Jo Hands, 39, of DeLand (Volusia County Jail)

“Both are still in jail and most likely spending Christmas there,” the release concludes.

Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.



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Grand Rapids police chief is candidate for Florida job: Eric Winstrom faced early trial

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Grand Rapids police chief is candidate for Florida job: Eric Winstrom faced early trial


GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Just weeks into his new job, Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom – sharing a small apartment with his wife and two children – was told that an officer was just involved in a shooting.

A former commander for Chicago Police Department, Winstrom had dealt with many shootings involving police.

Officer Christopher Schurr shot and killed Black motorist Patrick Lyoya after a Feb. 4, 2022, traffic stop. Schurr, a white officer, shot Lyoya in the back of the head.

Winstrom, who was named this week one of three finalists for police chief in Pensacola, Florida, recalled the tragedy in Grand Rapids in an MLive video 13 months after the killing.

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He became chief in Grand Rapids on March 7, 2022.

Protesters march through downtown Grand Rapids after a mistrial was declared in the Christopher Schurr murder trial after the jury could not come to a unanimous decision on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Schurr was charged with second-degree murder after killing Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop in 2022. Joel Bissell | MLive.com

He described the shooting as “just like a slap across the face and a wake-up call because I had been involved in so many of these difficult situations in Chicago. So I was like, ‘Oh, OK, I guess we’re doing this here so quick’ and it was I would say a progression of sadness.”

Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom talks to media Tuesday, Nov. 11 after officers and an 18-year-old man exchanged gunfire in a Southeast Grand Rapids neighborhood. (John Agar | MLive)John Agar

He met with Lyoya’s family in his office, “crying literally with them.” He knew that Schurr, who was ultimately acquitted by a Kent County jury of second-degree murder, and his family were devastated, too.

Winstrom fired Schurr after charges were filed.

He knew that his officers had strong feelings, with many supporting Schurr, who said he acted in self-defense when Lyoya gained control of his Taser.

GR Fatal Stabbing 11.6.24
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom responds to the scene of a fatal stabbing. (Joel Bissell|MLive)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

Winstrom, who often responds to serious crime scenes, said: “I’ll say that this department – I’m sure everybody’s got their opinions – but from what I’ve seen they’ve handled it professionally … have not let it impact job performance at all which was something that I was really afraid of.”

That has happened in other U.S. cities after controversial police shootings. Lyoya’s supporters held many protests, particularly when the officer was on trial.

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Windstrom said that calls to defund police can lead to a ‘mass exodus’ of officers, which data shows results in increasing violence in minority neighborhoods.

He said that “officers in Grand Rapids, whether they agree with my decision to fire Christopher or not, come to work every day. They just do a phenomenal, professional job. I’m really proud of them.”

Winstrom is a finalist for the Pensacola job with Brian Dugan, a former Tampa police chief, and Erik Goss, the acting deputy chief in Pensacola, the Pensacola News Journal reported.

The selection process will occur Jan. 12 to 14.

Winstrom declined an MLive request for comment on Wednesday, Dec. 24, but issued a statement the previous day.

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He asked for patience while he considered what is best for him and his family. He said he will be “engaged here as ever” during the process and “I remain fully committed to ensuring the City of Grand Rapids is a community where people feel safe and are safe at all times.“

City Manager Mark Washington appointed Winstrom nearly four years ago knowing “that he was a highly qualified, top-tier professional in the field of public safety. While he hadn’t served as a Chief of Police, his potential was evident.”

Washington added: “Given the significant progress he has led within the Grand Rapids Police Department – specifically in advancing constitutional policing, enhancing transparency, and centering the department’s commitment to serve all residents – it is certainly not surprising that other communities would seek out his leadership and expertise.”



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Florida man charged in racially motivated attack plot

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Florida man charged in racially motivated attack plot


Federal agents arrested a 20-year-old Sarasota man after finding Nazi propaganda, pipe bombs, guns, ammunition, a pressure cooker, and instructions for making explosives inside his home. Investigators also discovered an index card outlining plans for a racially motivated attack, including placing motion-activated bombs for police. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.



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