ST. MARYS, Ga. – One of five people charged in connection with a murder in St. Marys, Georgia, almost a year ago is facing a new charge.
Frank Kennedy, who was just released from jail 10 days ago on a half-million dollar bond, is accused of witness tampering and is back in custody.
So far, no bond has been set on the new charge and investigators have not said what prompted the charge.
Kennedy is one of five people charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of John “Scooter” Mamph, whose body was found in the water at Gilligan’s Island in St. Marys in July 2023. Mamph, 29, was a father and the youngest of five children.
He and the five people charged in the case were all experiencing homelessness at the time of the murder.
According to the St. Marys Police Department, Mamph’s body was found in the water, gagged by a rope tied around his neck and head with his hands bound behind his back. He had to be cut free because the rope was attached to what looked like a roll of aluminum roofing and a black bag full of rocks.
Along with Kennedy, the others charged with Mamph’s murder are Anthony Mistretta, 27, Debra Doughtery, 36, Megan Robison, 33, and Bernice McGuire, 25.
Related: 5 arrested, accused in connection to murder of man on Gilligan’s Island in Georgia
According to affidavits, Mamph was sleeping with Robison in her tent at Gilligan’s Island on the morning of July 5 when Mistretta, Doughtery, Kennedy, and McGuire started heading toward it. The affidavit suggests Mamph and Mistretta had been fighting with each other about women they were dating, but people in the area told News4JAX the two had been in conflict over a tent.
According to records, Mistretta hit Mamph in the face. He was then hogtied and thrown into McGuire’s SUV, where Kennedy continued to beat him and choke him with a seat belt.
The affidavit said McGuire and Doughtery drove Mamph to the water, and Mistretta and Kennedy took him out on a boat, tied him to a weighted object and dropped him in the water, where he was later found by a jet skier.
‘He didn’t deserve this’
Tikeisha Parrish, a longtime family friend, said she had known Mamph since he was a child. She said he was the youngest of five children born to a single mother.
“That was her baby. He was just so mellow and happy-go-lucky,” Parrish said. “He was someone’s son, someone’s nephew. He was a little boy’s dad. He didn’t deserve this.”
Mamph grew up in the Tampa area. When he was in his early 20s, his mom died suddenly of cancer. Parrish said he struggled after that and moved to Georgia with his family.
“I think he just kind of felt like, you know, his world was kind of over,” she said. “So he just kind of took off.”
Parrish said just months before his death, Mamph was upbeat and talking about going back to school and making plans with his son.
“He was just a young man, trying to figure out life after losing his mother who was his entire world,” she said. “That’s who he was.”