PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – A four-day murder trial ended Friday with an Arizona man found guilty of strangling his friend in their hotel room during a trip to Panama City Beach in 2021.

State Attorney Larry Basford announced that 43-year-old Scottie Jay Black of Arizona was charged with second-degree murder in the October 3, 2021, death of 41-year-old Tyrell James Sagg.

We’re told the case began on October 3, 2021, when Black and Sagg’s girlfriend reportedly found him dead on the floor of their hotel room in Panama City Beach. The three were apparently on vacation.

The autopsy reportedly found internal injuries consistent with being strangled. Further investigation showed the defendant and the woman later withdrew money using the victim’s ATM card and returned to Arizona. More evidence revealed that no one else entered or left the room at the time the victim was killed.

We’re told 12 witnesses were called at the trial by Prosecutors Peter Overstreet and Nadia DeAbreu. A Navajo Nation Police Department investigator who helped locate the suspect and two Panama City Beach Police Department investigators who flew to Arizona to interview Black were included.

A 5-hour interview was reportedly played to the jurors, including the defendant’s story changed multiple times.

“Mr. Black thought he had done a good job of covering up his crime,” said Overstreet. “However, the testimony of the Medical Examiner (Jay Radtke) and the extremely thorough investigation of the Panama City Beach Police Department’s criminal investigators led to the jury seeing the truth of what occurred that fateful night in the hotel room.”

They say the jury deliberated for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

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PHOENIX – Arizona teachers are now eligible to apply for up to $5,000 in classroom grants that go toward STEM and social science education.

Salt River Project offers two grants for teachers. The STEM Grant gives up to $5,000 per school for projects that create innovative teaching methods in math and science.

The Social Science Grant provides up to $2,500 per school for the study of history, geography, civics, government and economics.

Funds from the grant can go toward purchasing equipment and supplies that will aid the teacher’s curriculum.

“The grant from SRP has helped fund a high-quality 3D printer for my classroom, which lets my students bring their ideas to life,” Dr. Melissa Wendell, engineering teacher at Corona del Sol High School, said in a press release.

SRP opened applications for the grants on Tuesday but educators can submit until Feb. 28, 2025.

When applying, teachers will need to address six metrics, which include a description of their project, an explanation of why the money is needed, a timeline of the project, how many students will be impacted, how the grant money will be spent and how the teacher plans to evaluate the success of the project.

To apply the educator must be a certified teacher in the metro Phoenix area, Pinal County, Gila County, Yavapai County, Page, St. Johns and NGS community chapters.

More information on the grants and the submission rubric can be found on SRP’s website.

The Red-Blue Showcase is, first and foremost, a fan event. Call it Meet the Team with a little basketball thrown in for good measure. The results have no bearing on anything, nor do the performances.

That was Tommy Lloyd’s message after a 20-minute exhibition that saw Team Red rally in the second half to beat Team Blue 47-44 on Friday night at McKale Center. Caleb Love led Red, which featured four of Arizona’s top returning scholarship players, with 19 points including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:55 left, while Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso had 15 for a Blue roster that featured four of the Wildcats’ five newcomers.

“I literally had nothing to do with that,” Lloyd said of the rosters. “That was all (assistant coach) Jack Murphy. I love my staff and give them a ton of freedom, so whatever they felt was comfortable with I was gonna go with it.”

Lloyd said the exhibition was the “longest extended scrimmage” Arizona has had since preseason practice officially began on Sept. 23. He said the game was most helpful for seeing his players building habits and getting comfortable with the pace and style of play, particularly for the newer players, but that no definitive decisions about rotations or playing time would come from it.

“I told our guys, no matter what happens today in the Red-Blue game, whether you play great, your team wins, you play bad, your team loses, it’s going to probably have no impact on our journey as a team this season, or your journey as a player,” Lloyd said. “We practice tomorrow. I can’t wait. We’re going to tape up and and we’re going to get after it like a normal day.”

Ahead of the scrimmage were a 3-point contest and a dunk contest. Love beat freshman Carter Bryant in the finals, hitting the last moneyball just before the buzzer to win 17-16.

“I had to make it interesting,” said Love, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year who like fellow UA guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis tested the NBA Draft waters last spring before coming back for a second season in Tucson.

Bryant, a 5-star prospect who committed to the UA almost 18 months ago, also competed in the dunk contest and ended up beating out defending champ Lewis in the finals. He said this was the fifth Red-Blue game he’s been to, including ones as a recruit and when his father got him tickets one year for his birthday.

“This is surreal for me,” Bryant said. “For me to finally have the opportunity to compete in a Red-Blue game, it’s awesome.”

The only scholarship player not to participate Friday was sophomore center Henri Veesaar, who is dealing with a lower body injury that has kept him out of practice recently. Lloyd said there was no need to “throw him out there” for a scrimmage.

“It’s no secret, if we were in the midst of games he’d be available to play,” Lloyd said.

Arizona’s first competition against another team comes Oct. 21 at home against Eastern New Mexico, the first of two exhibitions. The 2024-25 season begins Nov. 4 at McKale against Canisius.