State Attorney Melissa Nelson on Thursday announced indictments by a Duval County grand jury charging four people in unrelated cases with first-degree murder.
David Nelson Austin is now charged with first-degree murder in the 1985 killing of a Jacksonville teenager, Leslie McCray. He’s also charged with two counts of armed kidnapping and one count of armed sexual battery. Police said in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 1985, McCray, 17, was kidnapped at knifepoint from her home on St. Johns Avenue. Hours later, McCray was found dead on Old Middleburg Road.
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Alexander Pino was arrested in connection with the death of 4-year-old James Reese in May and is now charged with first-degree murder. The State Attorney’s Office said doctors found blunt force trauma indicative of “an ongoing pattern of abuse” of Reese, including at least six fractures, some of which were weeks old. Michelle Sipko was also arrested and charged with manslaughter. Both were said to be the boy’s foster parents.
Zebulon Perkins is charged in the murder of Atlantic Coast High School teacher Vivian James in 2020. Police said Perkins was arrested after officers found him driving the teacher’s car. An arrest report said police found James’ cellphone, credit cards and a bag with a pair of bloody sweatpants inside the car. Her body was found in her Westside home.
Jairus Smith, who was 17 at the time of the crime, is charged in the 2019 robbery and murder of 15-year-old Cordell Williams.