Florida
South Florida attorney accused of helping woman steal home
COOPER CITY, Fla. – A South Florida lawyer is facing three felony charges after authorities accused her of using her position to help a Cooper City woman steal her son’s stake in a home.
Authorities arrested Ashley Ruth Morin, 28, of Cooper City, on Monday, according to Broward County jail records.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the Broward Sheriff’s Office investigation into Morin began after the Broward County Property Appraiser’s office received a complaint that Suzanne Corcoran, who’s also been charged in the case, filed a forged quit claim deed in her son’s name “which removed his interest in the property,” which they had owned jointly.
BSO Detective Robert Feick, working as part of a detachment with the BCPA, wrote in the affidavit that Morin once worked for Corcoran’s son as an attorney.
Feick wrote that after Corcoran, 64, returned from vacation on May 8, 2023, Morin drove her around to various post offices in order to find someone to notarize a pre-stamped deed bearing the victim’s signature.
Corcoran was eventually successful at a UPS Store, authorities said. Feick wrote that she and Morin drove to a Davie library to make copies of the deed. Corcoran, he wrote, then asked a third party, whose name was redacted from the affidavit, to pick her up and take her to the Broward County Governmental Center to record the deed.
The affidavit states that Corcoran had brought a copy of the deed and county employees informed her that they needed the original, which Morin had.
Morin “brought the original deed” and Corcoran recorded it, Feick wrote.
“(Redacted) stated that Morin informed him that she had printed the deed at (redacted) before leaving her job there,” Feick wrote. “Additionally, Morin told (redacted) that she stole (the victim’s) signature stamp from his office before leaving the job. Additionally, Morin told (redacted) that (the victim) had two stamps, ensuring that he wouldn’t notice one of the stamps missing.”
Corcoran, during a consultation with another lawyer, tried to falsely implicate that third party in the case to conceal Morin’s involvement, according to the affidavit.
Feick wrote that a witness told investigators that Morin advised Corcoran to “discard the stamp,” which she did.
“Suzanne told her that one of the attorneys she consulted with told Suzanne that what she did was a crime and had advised her to reverse it back to how (the deed) was originally…which Suzanne eventually did,” he wrote.
Feick wrote that there were also “screenshots of messages apparently received by Suzanne from Ashley Morin wherein Morin appears to be giving Suzanne advice on the situation.”
The detective wrote that he spoke over the phone with Morin on Feb. 7. He said she claimed she “didn’t know much of anything” regarding what happened and she denied taking the stamp or seeing it.
“When asked if she drove Suzanne Corcoran around to get the deed notarized, she stated that she no longer wanted to answer any questions and would not come in for an interview,” Feick wrote.
Both Morin and Corcoran are facing charges of first-degree grand theft, filing false documents against property and criminal use of personal identification information. Corcoran has pleaded not guilty in the case.
According to the Florida Bar website, Morin has since been employed as a Boca Raton-based associate for Shendell & Pollock, P.A., “a full-service litigation and business law firm.”
Her biography was still listed on the firm’s website as of late Tuesday morning.
Local 10 News contacted Shendell & Pollock seeking comment Tuesday morning and had not heard back as of Tuesday afternoon. Local 10 News also contacted the Florida Bar inquiring whether Morin was under investigation by that entity.
Morin did not have an attorney of her own listed in Broward court records. Corcoran’s attorney, Scott Saul, spoke to Local 10 News on Tuesday afternoon, noting that his client is presumed innocent.
“There are significant mitigating circumstances here and there’s a sad family feud going on,” Saul said.
Saul said he couldn’t elaborate on those circumstances.
Morin was being held in the BSO Main Jail on a $15,000 bond as of Tuesday afternoon, while Corcoran had already bonded out of jail following her arrest Thursday.
The BCPA’s office has a free program homeowners can use to prevent title fraud.
Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Florida
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Florida
Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding
Brevard County couple gets married in NICU after birth of premature twins
A Florida couple, told they may not be able to have children, welcomed premature twins and had an impromptu NICU wedding.
Provided by AdventHealth for Children
Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.
But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.
Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.
Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.
“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.
“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.
The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.
“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.
Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.
“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”
The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.
“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.
“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”
The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.
“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
Florida
Florida man taken into custody related to call threatening business
The Vero Beach Police Department took a man into custody May 8 in connection with a threatening phone call directed toward a business.
The agency received information at 5:21 p.m. May 7 about a threatening call to Thrive IRC Inc. at 2300 5th Ave. in Vero Beach, according to a news release. The call included someone threatening to come to the business with an AK rifle and “light the building up.”
Detectives began investigating the threat and identified Michael Sean O’Brien, 27, of Vero Beach, as the person associated with the phone number used during the call.
O’Brien was taken into custody at about 3:30 p.m. May 8 without incident. He was charged with the false report concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner, which is a second degree felony, according to the news release.
O’Brien was booked in the Indian River County Jail at 6:13 p.m. May 8 but was released at 1:36 p.m. May 9 after posting the $5,000 bond, according to the jail website.
No additional information was available the afternoon of May 9.
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
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