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April 10th, 2001, 03:16 PM
<b><big><big>ST. THOMAS BROTHERS TIED TO 3rd FLORIDA MURDER</big></big></b><font size="3"><br>
<small><i>by Source staff</i></small>
<p> The Tallahassee Democrat reported last week
that a friend of two brothers from St. Thomas facing double murder charges in
Orlando has implicated them in the September 2000 slaying of an 18-year-old
Tallahassee woman.<br>
Elvis Francis, 17, has been charged with
first-degree murder in the death of Monique Washington. His brother, David
Francis, 20, was charged as an accessory after the fact and tampering with
physical evidence.<br>
Washington's remains were found in a wooded area
in Wakulla County a month after her disappearance on Sept. 10.<br>
The two were arrested and jailed in December 2000
in connection with the deaths of Orlando-area resident Helena Mills and her
niece Jo Anna Charles, both also originally from St. Thomas. Mills and
Washington were strangled and their cars stolen, according to Florida law
enforcement officials.<br>
According to a March 27 report in the Tallahassee
newspaper, 20-year-old Tamika Jones, a friend of Washington and the Francis
brothers, eventually broke down and confessed last month under questioning by
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents and investigators from the Leon
County and Wakulla County sheriffs' offices.<br>
Jones said Elvis Francis allegedly told her he was
going to kill Washington, according to court documents cited by the Democrat.
Francis allegedly strangled Washington with the power cord from a VCR. Jones
reportedly pawned the VCR later. She is charged as an accessory.<br>
Investigators said the Francis brothers apparently
headed south to Orlando, where their mother lives.<br>
Mills and Charles were found dead in the bathroom
of Mills' apartment in the Orlando area on Nov. 6.<br>
According to a Dec. 11, 2000 report in the Orlando
Sentinel, Det. Reggie Campbell of the Orlando police homicide unit said the
Orlando victims were attacked and strangled in Mills' home in the Rosemont
neighborhood and were robbed of a video-game machine and a medallion with Jo
Anna Charles' name on it. Police later recovered the items, which had been
pawned, the Sentinel reported.<br>
Mills knew the Francis brothers' mother, Gleneth
Byron, from their high school days on St. Thomas, according to the report. Byron
had recently moved to Orlando to be near her friend Mills.</font>
<small><i>by Source staff</i></small>
<p> The Tallahassee Democrat reported last week
that a friend of two brothers from St. Thomas facing double murder charges in
Orlando has implicated them in the September 2000 slaying of an 18-year-old
Tallahassee woman.<br>
Elvis Francis, 17, has been charged with
first-degree murder in the death of Monique Washington. His brother, David
Francis, 20, was charged as an accessory after the fact and tampering with
physical evidence.<br>
Washington's remains were found in a wooded area
in Wakulla County a month after her disappearance on Sept. 10.<br>
The two were arrested and jailed in December 2000
in connection with the deaths of Orlando-area resident Helena Mills and her
niece Jo Anna Charles, both also originally from St. Thomas. Mills and
Washington were strangled and their cars stolen, according to Florida law
enforcement officials.<br>
According to a March 27 report in the Tallahassee
newspaper, 20-year-old Tamika Jones, a friend of Washington and the Francis
brothers, eventually broke down and confessed last month under questioning by
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents and investigators from the Leon
County and Wakulla County sheriffs' offices.<br>
Jones said Elvis Francis allegedly told her he was
going to kill Washington, according to court documents cited by the Democrat.
Francis allegedly strangled Washington with the power cord from a VCR. Jones
reportedly pawned the VCR later. She is charged as an accessory.<br>
Investigators said the Francis brothers apparently
headed south to Orlando, where their mother lives.<br>
Mills and Charles were found dead in the bathroom
of Mills' apartment in the Orlando area on Nov. 6.<br>
According to a Dec. 11, 2000 report in the Orlando
Sentinel, Det. Reggie Campbell of the Orlando police homicide unit said the
Orlando victims were attacked and strangled in Mills' home in the Rosemont
neighborhood and were robbed of a video-game machine and a medallion with Jo
Anna Charles' name on it. Police later recovered the items, which had been
pawned, the Sentinel reported.<br>
Mills knew the Francis brothers' mother, Gleneth
Byron, from their high school days on St. Thomas, according to the report. Byron
had recently moved to Orlando to be near her friend Mills.</font>