Toho boat captain’s fiancée pleads no contest in sex abuse case
The fiancée of a Lake Toho tour boat captain accused of sexually abusing a teenaged employee has pleaded no contest in the case.
In exchange for the plea, Frances Fernandez, 30, was sentenced to 74 days’ time served plus five years of probation for sexual battery with a child 12-18 in familial/custodial authority, lewd and lascivious touching of certain minors and failure to report child abuse.
Conditions of Fernandez’s probation include no contact with the 17-year-old victim or her co-defendant, Richard Lawrence, except for the purpose of selling their home. She must also enroll in psycho-sexual evaluation and therapy within 30 days and testify against Lawrence, if called. On Monday, Osceola Circuit Judge Keith Carsten granted Lawrence’s motion for a trial continuance, pushing his proceedings to April.
St. Cloud Police arrested the couple in December after receiving information that Lawrence had gained custody of the victim and was having sexual relations with her. According to reports, Fernandez told police she knew Lawrence had had sex with the victim and detailed an encounter all three of them had together. However, Lawrence denied to detectives ever having intercourse with the victim.
St. Cloud father distracted by online gaming charged in infant drowning death A St. Cloud father has been charged with aggravated manslaughter following the April 2024 drowning death of his infant daughter, which occurred while he was allegedly playing an online video game.
Authorities responded to the home on Steerview Street on April 21, 2024, after a report of an infant drowning. Despite life-saving efforts by St. Cloud Fire Rescue, the child was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. at HCA Florida Osceola East.
Joshua Ruiz-Martinez—the child’s primary caregiver at the time while his partner was at work—initially told Osceola County Sheriff’s investigators that he briefly left his daughter unattended in the bathtub to prepare a bottle, only to return and find her face down in the water. However, an investigation into his computer and phone records revealed he was actively playing the online game Path of Exile at the time, contradicting his statements.
Additionally, investigators uncovered messages Ruiz-Martinez sent via the Discord app falsely claiming that his daughter drowned in a pool. Hours after the tragedy, he messaged friends warning them to “never leave your kid with no one.”
During a recorded interview, Ruiz-Martinez was confronted with the digital evidence and admitted responsibility for his daughter’s death, saying “I killed my daughter for a game? Please tell me I did not kill my daughter for a game.”
An arrest warrant was issued Monday, and Ruiz-Martinez was taken into custody on Tuesday on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Traffic stop leads to drug trafficking arrest
A traffic stop for illegal window tint led to the arrest of a 39-year-old Kissimmee man on multiple drug trafficking charges Tuesday.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper driving near Osceola Parkway and Greenwald Way pulled over a motorist just before noon for excessive window tinting. Troopers noted driver Orlandito Cristobal-Ortiz appeared nervous with shaking hands.
While issuing a warning for the tint violation, troopers deployed a K-9 unit, which alerted to the presence of narcotics. A subsequent search uncovered 163 pills, imprinted with “Percocet 5,” which contained fentanyl. Another batch of small blue pills tested positive for fentanyl, an troopers also recovered 2.5 grams of cocaine, Buprenorphine and Naloxone packages.
Cristobal-Ortiz was taken into custody and faces 12 counts of drug-related offenses, including trafficking in fentanyl, possession of cocaine, possession of controlled substances without a prescription, and sale of counterfeit controlled substances. Bond was set at $20,000. He has a lengthy record of drug-related arrests dating back to 2015.
Kissimmee man charged in January shooting
A 34-year-old Kissimmee man with an extensive history of drug arrests was arrested in connection with the shooting of a victim found critically injured outside a drug store in early January.
The victim was shot multiple times near Person Street on Jan. 8 before making his way to the CVS on Vine Street, where emergency responders found him in critical condition. Surveillance footage from nearby intersections showed the victim struggling to ride his bike before collapsing at the store.
Investigators found a trail of blood leading to a nearby grassy field. A witness identified Herbert Watts Jr. as the shooter. The witness told detectives that Watts and the victim had argued before Watts fired four shots at close range.
A background check revealed Watts had a previous felony conviction for drug-related offenses, making his possession of a firearm illegal. Police charged Watts with attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
