Eric SCHNOOR
SCHNOOR, BERROA, YOUNKINS, WALSTON, STEICHEN
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 3/6/2009 at 16:34:49
OBITUARY - ERIC SCHNOOR
Eric was born in Champaign, Illinois, moved to Iowa as a child and grew up on a farm. He attended school and graduated from Mount Ayr school system in 1982. He entered Lincoln Tech Diesel and Gas Engine training. From 1983 to 1985, he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Shortly after, he worked as a big game hunting guide in Alaska. Later, he worked as a certified specialized welder on the Alaskan Pipeline. He also worked as a welder in the clean-up efforts after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Eric then moved to Iowa and farmed for a year, after which he attended college at Kearny State in Nebraska. He then moved to Florida and attended a junior college in Daytona Beach, where he met his present wife, Raquel. They were married in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and attained a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting, which led to a Certified Public Accountant designation (CPA). He worked for private CPA firms and was employed with the Internal Revenue Service in Jacksonville. An active member of the Jacksonville Church of Christ, Eric was a Bible talk leader and involved in the church’s administrative activities. Eric was a regular blood donor, worked with refugees in Jacksonville regularly, and was a Duval County School volunteer.
[He is] survived by Wife, Raquel (BERROA) SCHNOOR; son, Eian, daughters Sherita and Kelci; parents, Roger and Jane SCHNOOR; sister, Elizabeth (Kenneth) YOUNKINS; and brother Martin (Jackie) SCHNOOR; in-laws, Miguel and Zoila BERROA; sister-in-law Zoila (Robert) WALSTON; previous wife and mother of Eian, Sabrina and Sherita, Cynthia (Thomas) SCHNOOR; many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. [He was] preceded in death by daughter Sabrina.
Services were held Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. from Wilson-Watson & Armstrong Funeral Home, Mount Ayr, Iowa.
www.funeralplan2.com/watsonarmstrongfh/archive?id=85938
Creston News Advertiser
Creston, Union County, Iowa
Tuesday, January 16, 2007OBITUARY - ERIC SCHNOOR
Eric SCHNOOR, 42, of Jacksonville, Fla., formerly of Mount Ayr, died January 6, 2007, in Jacksonville, Fla. SCHNOOR's death was ruled a homicide by Jacksonville Police Department. [See related stories below]
Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 17, at Wilson-Watson and Armstrong Funeral Home, 205 W. Monroe St., Mount Ayr. The Rev. Mike Rock will officiate the service. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, south of Mount Ayr. Visitation will be one hour prior to memorial services on Wednesday. A memorial has been established in his name.
Eric SCHNOOR, son of Jan (STEICHEN) and Roger Schnoor, was born July 28, 1964, in Champaign, Ill. He graduated from Mount Ayr High School in 1982 and University of North Florida with a degree in business administration and accounting. On August 15, 1944, Eric married Raquel BORROA in Jacksonville, Fla. He was an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. Eric was a member of Jacksonville Church of Christ and served in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Reserves.
Survivors include his wife, Raquel SCHNOOR, and three children, Eian, Sherita and Kelci, all of Jacksonville, Fla.; his parents, Roger and Jane SCHNOOR of Mount Ayr; brother Martin (wife Jackie) SCHNOOR of Mount Ayr; and sister Elizabeth (husband Kenneth) YOUNKINS of St. David, Pa.
Eric was preceded in death by his daughter Sabrina SCHNOOR.
The Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Monday, January 8, 2007SLAYING VICTIM LOVED TO HELP OUT
He was shot while picking up old books, likely to give away.
by Dana Treen, The Times-Union
Eric SCHNOOR's habit of helping others may have gotten him killed in a shooting Saturday in a Jacksonville neighborhood.
The 42-year-old Mandarin man, who lived blocks away from where he was found dead in his Saturn, was shot in the neck as he sat in the driveway of a Hood Landing Road house where he stopped to pick up a box of books the homeowner was throwing away, police said.
Neighbors of SCHNOOR said he often would recover items others were discarding and repair them to give away later.
"He was sitting in the driver's seat," homicide Sgt. Andre AYOUB said. "It looks like one round was shot through the rear passenger-side window."
Ayoub said police found a box of books in the car.
He said police were following leads in the case Sunday night but did not have any suspects in custody. He did not know what sparked the shooting or whether the shooter was in a vehicle or on foot.
AYOUB said SCHNOOR had gone to a nearby Lowe's building supply store about 7:30 p.m. Saturday and was likely going home when he stopped at the house in the 12200 block of Hood Landing. One nearby resident said Sunday that he thought he heard firecrackers about 10 p.m. Saturday but didn't think anything more of it.
Shortly after 11 p.m., another resident of the neighborhood found SCHNOOR dead in the driveway and called police.
On the curb Sunday were boxes with a set of old encyclopedias and geography books. The man who found SCHNOOR, who did not want to be identified out of fear for his family's safety, said he grabbed a flashlight to investigate the car in the driveway and saw SCHNOOR inside.
"His head was back on the head rest," he said. "I didn't know who he was or what he was doing here."
Neighbors of SCHNOOR, who lived blocks away on Wilderness Court, said it would not have been unusual for him to stop at the Hood Landing Road house. It was a habit for the man they described as an IRS auditor to pick up discarded furniture or other items to repair and give to those who needed it.
"There was nothing but goodness in him," said Saundra THIGPEN, standing in her yard next to the red brick house where SCHNOOR lived with his wife and three children.
In July, when the Thigpens were adding a room to their house, SCHNOOR braved a midnight thunderstorm to staple tarps over the exposed roof. Sunday, Thigpen said SCHNOOR's family had gone to stay with relatives.
Saundra THIGPEN's husband, Trent, said SCHNOOR worked for the IRS and was deeply involved with his church.
He said SCHNOOR had recently helped a family who could not afford to do the work to install hardwood floors and would routinely refinish furniture and give it to those who needed it.
"He'd find a refrigerator on the side of the road and fix it up for people," he said. "If you opened up his garage right now you would see stuff in there that he was fixing up for someone."
A spokesman for the Schnoor family, Juan FIGUEROA, said he met the SCHNOOR family at Jacksonville Church of Christ on Bowden Road.
"He would go out of his way to help anyone he could," FIGUEROA said. "He was a loving father devoted to his family."
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Tuesday, January 23, 2007TIP LEADS TO 2 ARRESTS IN MANDARIN SLAYING
Detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday the arrests of two suspects who are accused of killing a man in Mandarin two weeks ago.
Police said 19-year-old Dean PARKER and 20-year-old Joshua CHARLES were driving through a neighborhood using an assault rifle to shoot at cars when one of the bullets hit and killed 43-year-old Eric SCHNOOR in the 12000 block of Hood Landing Road.
PARKER told police he was driving the car and Joshua CHARLES was the one who fired the fatal shot. The two are charged with one count of murder.
"We now understand that these young men were riding around shooting at various targets from their assault rifle," said Lt. Pat IVEY.
SCHNOOR had been outside picking up some old books that someone had thrown away when the shot was fired. He was killed, but another woman survived a bullet that police said came from the two young men the day before.
"A woman that was in her vehicle was shot at while she was in the driver's seat, driving the vehicle. She just happened to be stopped in traffic. So, they were shooting at vehicles also," IVEY said.
Police said it was a tip that led to the arrests of PARKER and CHARLES. They said a gas station owner called because a suspicious vehicle was in the parking lot and one of the people in the vehicle pulled a gun and shot it; that person called police and detectives put the pieces together.
"An individual told us that he knew these two individuals, and that they told him they had an assault riffle, a chopper, for sale," said Sheriff John RUTHERFORD.
RUTHERFORD said after the tipster identified the suspect, they went to his house. They said PARKER had the rifle and it matched the shell casings found at the scene.
"Because this young man called in, these murderers are going to be brought to justice," RUTHERFORD said.
The arrests are helping to give SCHNOOR's family and friends a little closure.
"It's getting to know what really happened that's really giving them the closure they need," said friend Juan FIGUEROA.
The Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Saturday, February 24, 2007POLICE HAD A CHANCE BUT HAD TO LET HIM GO
At age 20, Joshua CHARLES has quite a criminal history;
Some blame a flawed probation system
for what he'll soon be charged with: Murder.by Adam Aasen, The Times-Union
Authorities had the chance to jail an eventual Jacksonville murder suspect 41 days before a fatal drive-by shooting, but let him walk out their doors.
Instead Joshua Matthew CHARLES, 20, was arrested and charged with violating probation four hours after a Jacksonville father of three was gunned down January 6 with an assault rifle.
Now prosecutors say CHARLES will be charged as the triggerman in the shooting.
CHARLES is in the Volusia County jail on a probation violation warrant from a November 27 arrest in Jacksonville on possession of cocaine, marijuana and concealed firearm charges. But some say he should have been arrested long before.
"If he had a weapon in his car, then he should have been in jail instead of out to murder an honest man - a daddy trying to make a living," said Anne DUGGER, director of the victims advocate group Justice Coalition. "That really shows you that somebody dropped the ball."
CHARLES' case is just one in a growing number of examples used to discount the current probation system.
Gretel PLESSINGER, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said because the warrant had to be mailed from Duval to Volusia, it took until December 7 for a judge to sign it. It took another 27 days to serve the warrant at CHARLES' Mandarin home because of a backlog of warrants, she said.
In the meantime, just before midnight on January 6, police said 42-year-old Eric SCHNOOR, an IRS auditor, was shot in the head on Hood Landing Road.
DUGGER said that being in possession of drugs or firearms was against the terms of CHARLES' probation, so he should not have been released. She also asked why a warrant had to be mailed and not sent electronically.
It's another case that provides ammo to politicians and leaders who say the probation system is flawed.
SCHNOOR's widow, Raquel SCHNOOR, said she is frustrated by the speed of the system, but doesn't like to dwell on it.
"It is what it is," she said. "Would it have been nice if the system worked a little faster? Of course it would have been, but it's not going to bring my husband back."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ABOUT ERIC SCHNOOR
Eric SCHNOOR, 42, of Mandarin was killed just before midnight on January 6 in the 12000 block of Hood Landing Road. SCHNOOR was loading used books into his Saturn when he was killed, police said.SCHNOOR leaves behind his wife, Raquel SCHNOOR, 32, his son Eian, 21, and daughters Sherita, 15, and Kelci, 9.
SCHNOOR worked as an Internal Revenue Service auditor and in his free time was active at the Jacksonville Church of Christ on the Southside.
Friends said SCHNOOR loved to fix up old cars and collect thrown-away gems, such as the books he was gathering the day of his death.
SCHNOOR also is a veteran of the Army and Marine Corps.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gov. Charlie CRIST recently brought up such killings to build support for his proposed Anti-Murder Act, which would crack down on violent offenders who violate probation. The act wouldn't have affected CHARLES because weapons charges aren't considered violent offenses.In SCHNOOR's death, witnesses and surveillance videos helped police arrest 19-year-old Dean W. PARKER of Jacksonville on January 22. Police said PARKER recounted driving the car while CHARLES shot from the window. They spent the evening shooting at signs in Mandarin before the killing, the arrest report said.
Assistant State Attorney London HARRISON said CHARLES will be charged with murder after he is transported to Jacksonville and finished with his legal proceedings in Volusia.
CHARLES' extensive probation history started in March 2005 when he was charged with possession of marijuana in Daytona Beach Shores. Less than a month later he was arrested on burglary charges in Jacksonville.
CHARLES was sentenced to probation in both counties - 26 months in Jacksonville and three years in Volusia County, according to court documents.
A year later, CHARLES violated both probations when Jacksonville police pulled him over and found a concealed weapon and marijuana in the car. He told police that he was trying to buy an assault rifle and a bulletproof vest from a crack addict, according to arrest reports. The charges were dropped because the drugs and weapon could not be connected to him.
This leads up to the November 27 probation violation when a Jacksonville officer stopped CHARLES and found a concealed firearm, cocaine, marijuana, pills and $1,586 in cash in the car. Charles was released on a $5,003 bond and there was no warrant for the probation violation yet. The charges were later dropped because it wasn't his car.
PLESSINGER said the Florida Department of Corrections checked on the warrant on December 5 to see if it had been signed yet and the warrant did not become active until December 11. Police didn't serve the warrant at CHARLES' Mandarin home until nearly a month later.
CHARLES could have been detained in Jacksonville. PLESSINGER said probation officers can use their discretion to perform a warrantless arrest if an individual has a violent background. She said weapons charges would not fall into that category.
Even when she had to spend Valentine's Day at an arraignment hearing, SCHNOOR said she wasn't angry. She just doesn't want something like this to happen again.
"This whole experience, it deepens my faith," she said. "Hopefully, some good can come from this."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
JOSHUA M. CHARLES CRIMINAL TIMELINE
CHARLES, a suspect in the drive-by shooting murder of Eric SCHNOOR on January 6, had a history of weapons charges and probation violations before his latest arrest.March 26, 2005: Arrested in Daytona Beach Shores in Volusia County for possession of marijuana.
April 18, 2005: Arrested in Jacksonville on burglary charges.
July 14, 2005: Sentenced to 26 months' probation for burglary charges.
Oct. 4, 2005: Sentenced to three years' probation for possession of marijuana charges. Both probations are running concurrently.
April 28: Arrested in Jacksonville during a traffic stop and charged with carrying a concealed firearm and possession of marijuana, a violation of both of his probations. The charges are eventually dropped on June. 17 because the car was not his and the items couldn't easily be connected to him.
Aug. 10: Jacksonville probation terminated a year early after CHARLES serves 108 days in jail waiting for his hearing.
Sept. 13: Volusia probation is maintained by a judge there without any jail time.
Nov. 27: Arrested in Jacksonville during a traffic stop on charges of possession of cocaine and carrying a concealed firearm, a violation of his Volusia County probation. He's released on $5,003 bond. The charges are eventually dropped on December 18 because the car in which the items were found did not belong to him.
Dec. 7: Violation of probation warrant issued for CHARLES. Florida Department of Corrections officials said the delay was because they had to mail the warrant.
Jan. 6: Eric SCHNOOR is killed in a drive-by shooting in Mandarin just before midnight.
Jan. 7: Around 4 a.m. CHARLES is arrested at his Mandarin home for violation of probation.
Jan. 22: Dean W. PARKER is arrested in connection to SCHNOOR's death. He is charged with murder and implicates CHARLES. Assistant State Attorney London HARRISON said CHARLES will be charged with murder once his Volusia case has gone through the court system.
Source: Volusia County and Duval County court clerksFlorida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Tuesday, July 24, 2007BOND SET FOR SUSPECT IN RANDOM KILLING
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After being held in jail for several months with no bond, a suspect who police said took part in a random killing went to court Tuesday to try again to win his release.
Prosecutors said Dean PARKER and another man were firing an assault rifle in a Mandarin neighborhood on Hood Landing Road.
They said one of the bullets from the gun hit Eric SCHNOOR in the head, killing the 42-year-old father.
PARKER went to court asking for some leniency from the judge.
PARKER is one of two men accused in the death of SCHNOOR, who was gunned down while picking up books in his car in the middle of a quiet Mandarin neighborhood.
Police said PARKER admitted he and Joshua CHARLES were joyriding, shooting at signs and cars with an assault rifle. Eric SCHNOOR.
As the victim's family looked on, the state pressed that point.
"In the interview, this defendant admits to driving the vehicle on Hood Landing, Josh CHARLES pushing the gun over to him and says, 'Hey man, shoot,' and he does. He does on the same road where Eric SCHNOOR is killed," prosecutor London HARRISON said.
The prosecution said if a bond is issued for PARKER, it should be high. As part of it's case, the state called the victim's wife to talk about the impact on her family.
"Honestly, I think it would scare the kids. My neighbors are concerned," said SCHNOOR's wife.
However, the defense argued that it was CHARLES, not PARKER, who fired the fatal shot. The defense also called witnesses, including PARKER's grandmother, who he's lived with most of his life, and his father.
After a lengthy hearing, the judge said there is probable cause that PARKER committed felonies but not necessarily murder. A bond of $15,000 was set.
SCHNOOR's wife and family left without comment, but the defense said the decision was fair.
"The man is presumed innocent. I think we all know right now as a matter of law by what the state has presented it's not murder," said defense attorney Tom FALLOWS.
As part of his restrictions, PARKER is not allowed within five miles of the SCHNOOR residence in Mandarin. He will also have to wear a GPS monitoring devise.
The other man charged in SCHNOOR's shooting death remains in jail with no bond.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Tuesday, June 17, 2008TRIAL BEGINS FOR SUSPECT IN MANDARIN SLAYING
The murder trial for one of the two men accused in the shooting death of a Mandarin father began on Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said the January 2007 incident began as a joyride and ended with the slaying of Eric SCHNOOR, a CPA by trade and handyman by hobby.
SCHNOOR was out collecting old books on Hood Landing Road and loading them into his car when a bullet from an assault rifle struck him.
Police said Dean PARKER and Joshua CHARLES were shooting up a neighborhood for their own amusement when they fired the fatal bullet.
Prosecutors said it was CHARLES, 21, who pulled the trigger.
In court on Tuesday, the accused killer looked on as the victim's wife, Rachael SCHNOOR, recalled her husband as a fun-loving man who was always doing things for others.
"People gave him things because they knew he was good at fixing them. So, they gave them to him so he would fix them and give them on to somebody else," Rachael SCHNOOR said.
She said she and her husband would talk often, and when she could not get in contact with him the night of January 6, 2007, she knew something was wrong.
"Probably about the third phone call when he didn't answer," Rachael SCHNOOR said.
Police said it was during that time that Yvonne and John HESTER found Eric SCHNOOR slumped over in his car in their driveway.
"My husband looked at the vehicle and he said to call 911 immediately," Yvonne HESTER testified.
Police said Eric SCHNOOR was picking up books that had been thrown out by the HESTERS when he was shot in the back of the neck while he sat in his car.
Investigators said they believe CHARLES fired the fatal shot as he and his friend, Dean PARKER, drove around randomly shooting an assault rifle.
However, CHARLES' defense attorney contends that the co-defendant, PARKER, was the shooter in the slaying. They said it was CHARLES who driving the car.
CHARLES is facing three charges, the most severe being second-degree murder.
CHARLES' trial is expected to continue on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., and is expected to be turned over to a jury by Friday.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Wednesday, June 18, 2008DEFENDANT'S PARENTS TESTIFY IN MURDER TRIAL
The parents of a man on trial in the slaying of a Mandarin father took the stand on Wednesday afternoon.
Joshua CHARLES is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 42-year-old Eric SCHNOOR.
SCHNOOR was out collecting old books on Hood Landing Road and loading them into his car when a bullet from an assault rifle struck him in the back of the neck.
Police said CHARLES and his co-defendant, Dean PARKER, were shooting up a neighborhood for their own amusement when the fatal shot was fired.
Investigators called the fatal shooting a random act of violence.
CHARLES' defense attorneys claimed that their client was driving the vehicle while PARKER was riding in the passenger seat. He said PARKER was the one who fired the shot that killed SCHNOOR.
However, witnesses testified on Wednesday and surveillance video showed that it was CHARLES who was in the passenger seat the night of the shooting.
Day two of the trial began with the testimony of a store clerk who said he was suspicious of CHARLES and PARKER when they were in his store prior to the Schnoor being shot.
"I did feel uncomfortable with them inside the store, but I did observe them and kept them in my watch," the clerk testified.
He said he called police after hearing a gunshot in the parking lot as CHARLES and PARKER drove off.
Surveillance video from the store allowed police to identify CHARLES and PARKER as the potential suspects.
"The store owner told us that individual came into the store, spoke to his son about an assault rifle that he had in the trunk of the car," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. Michael PAUL.
The most damaging testimony to CHARLES' defense came from his parents, who testified not only to finding ammunition in the car identified by witnesses but also to finding the rifle used to kill SCHNOOR.
"It the trunk, found a firearm. I took it out of the trunk. I laid it on the ground. I closed the trunk. I took it into the garage and I laid it on the floor, and I went to get my husband," said Tracey CHARLES, the defendant's mother.
The man with whom Charles once shared a jail cell, James WOLF, also testified on Wednesday. He said the suspect talked openly about what happened the night of SCHNOOR's death.
"He said that he had a rifle that he pointed out the passenger window, fired at the vehicle and noticed that the back glass shattered out but nobody had jumped out of the vehicle. He didn't understand why because he had seen someone get in. They pulled up to the vehicle, and Joshua said he walked over to the vehicle and seen blood splattered everywhere," said James WOLF.
Throughout Wednesday's testimony, CHARLES showed no emotion even when his parents testified.
On Thursday, PARKER is expected to take the stand as a witness in the case.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Thursday, June 19, 2008CO-DEFENDANT TAKES STAND IN MURDER TRIAL
A man who police said was in the car when an accused killer fired the shot that hit and killed a 42-year-old father took the stand Thursday afternoon.
Joshua CHARLES is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Eric SCHNOOR.
SCHNOOR was out collecting old books on Hood Landing Road and loading them into his car when a bullet from an assault rifle struck him in the back of the neck.
CHARLES' defense attorneys claimed that their client was driving the vehicle while co-defendant, Dean PARKER, was riding in the passenger seat. He said PARKER was the one who fired the shot that killed SCHNOOR.
On Thursday, jurors heard from a detective a firearms expert, but it was PARKER who the state most anxiously put on the stand.
PARKER said he and CHARLES were shooting up a neighborhood for their own amusement when SCHNOOR was killed.
He told the jury he was driving and CHARLES was in the passenger seat with the SKS assault rifle. PARKER said CHARLES was on the phone with his girlfriend, stopped talking to fire a shot at a car, and then resumed his conversation.
"I heard about two shots after he got through screaming at the phone. I heard two shots -- about that time I started looking. I couldn't tell where he shot at. I just saw the car with the lights on and we kept going," PARKER testified.
Also in court on Thursday, a recorded phone conversation that CHARLES made from jail was played for the jury. In the recording, CHARLES could be heard telling a friend to call his girlfriend and tell her to be quiet.
The prosecution rested in the trial.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Friday, June 20, 2008MAN FOUND GUILTY OF MANDARIN SLAYING
Joshua CHARLES, 21, was found guilty of manslaughter for illegally discharging a firearm in the Mandarin shooting death of Eric SCHNOOR.
Prosecutors said the January 2007 incident began as a joyride involving CHARLES and his co-defendant, Dean PARKER, and ended with the slaying of SCHNOOR, a CPA by trade and handyman by hobby.
SCHNOOR was out collecting old books on Hood Landing Road and loading them into his car when a bullet from an assault rifle struck him in the neck.
Prosecutors said it was CHARLES who pulled the trigger while PARKER drove their vehicle.
The jury heard from several witnesses, including CHARLES' parents and PARKER before handing down a guilty verdict on Friday afternoon.
CHARLES' parents told the jury about not only to finding ammunition in the car identified by witnesses but also to finding the rifle used to kill SCHNOOR.
PARKER took the stand on Thursday and described the night of the shooting.
"I heard about two shots after he got through screaming at the phone. I heard two shots -- about that time I started looking. I couldn't tell where he shot at. I just saw the car with the lights on and we kept going," PARKER testified.
CHARLES faces a sentence of 25 years to life for the manslaughter conviction.
The judge is expected to decide on Monday when CHARLES will be sentenced.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
FridayAugust 15, 2008KILLER GETS LIFE FOR SHOOTING
The man who was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of a father of three was sentenced on Friday to life in prison.
At his sentencing hearing, Joshua CHARLES repeated the same thing he has been saying since his arrest -- that he did not fire the shot that killed Eric SCHNOOR. He also apologized to the Schnoor family.
Prosecutors said CHARLES was driving around a Mandarin neighborhood last January, shooting for fun. One of the bullets hit and killed SCHNOOR, who investigators said he was out collecting old books.
SCHNOOR's wife, Racquel SCHNOOR, took the stand and talked about why spending August 15 at CHARLES' sentencing hearing was especially painful.
"Today would have been my 14th wedding anniversary," SCHNOOR said. "[Our kids] remember being tucked in and snuggling up to their daddy, but unfortunately, that's all they can do is remember him because they've been robbed of their privilege of access to their father by someone else's recklessness."
Seconds after the judge handed down CHARLES' life sentence, the courtroom erupted with emotion.
Prosecutors said CHARLES got what he deserved.
"I think that this case was a total wake-up call to our community, and it was a scary incident for any person who just wants to venture outside of their home," said prosecutor London HAIRSTON.
The trial for CHARLES' co-defendant, Dean PARKER, who investigators said was driving the car at the time of SCHNOOR's shooting, will be held at a later date.
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Florida
Friday, October 31, 2008MAN TO SPEND 184 DAYS IN JAIL
FOR ROLE IN FATAL SHOOTINGOn Thursday, one of the two defendants accused in the shooting death of a Mandarin father of three faced a judge to learn his fate.
Dean PARKER told the court he was sorry for the death of Eric SCHNOOR, saying, "I would like to apologize to everyone involved in this crime for what happened."
A judge sentenced PARKER to 184 days in jail and three years probation for his role in SCHNOOR's death.
Earlier this week, PARKER pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of a firearm.
PARKER said an acquaintance shot and killed SCHNOOR while the Mandarin man was out collecting old books last January. Prosecutors said since then the two defendants have been pointing fingers at each other, but they said they believe PARKER was the driver and not the shooter.
"Dean PARKER is much different than his co-defendant who showed an absolute disregard for the law in his past and in his present when he committed his crime," said prosecutor London HAIRSTON.
The co-defendant she spoke of is Joshua CHARLES, who was sentenced to life in prison in August. Prosecutors said CHARLES was just shooting out of a car for no apparent reason when a bullet struck SCHNOOR.
In court on Thursday, PARKER told the judge he realizes what he did.
"I'm not blaming anybody else for my decisions, and I also realize I did do wrong. I also understand the severity of the crime as well as accept the consequences for my involvement," PARKER said.
Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2009
Ringgold Obituaries maintained by Tony Mercer.
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