CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. – Citrus County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of four Citrus County residents for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, Child Neglect, and Maintaining a Dwelling for the Purpose of Using Controlled Substances.
25-year-old Kevin Courtney, 25-year-old Stephanie Carroll, 52-year-old Steven Gibson, and 44-year-old Tammy Allison were arrested after CCSO’s investigation revealed their negligence in the death of a two-month-old child earlier this year.
“This case is an example of the heinous crimes that are investigated by the detectives of the CCSO Special Victim’s Unit,” said Sheriff Prendergast. “It also highlights the cooperation between our office, state, and federal agencies in order to bring justice to Citrus County victims, like the precious child in this case. We want to thank our partners at the U.S. Marshals Service for their substantial and continuous support.”
On March 13, 2020, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call in reference to a two-month-old baby that was unresponsive and not breathing.
Deputies and EMS arrived at the residence in Inverness and located the victim who was then transported to Citrus Memorial Hospital by EMS where she was later pronounced deceased. Detective Richey and Detective Norton, with the CCSO Special Victim’s Unit, responded and began an intensive investigation into this incident; along with the cooperation of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Medical Examiner’s (ME) Office, and the State Attorney’s Office.
From the ME’s report, it was determined that methamphetamine toxicity contributed to the victim’s death. During further interviews, four adults living in the residence at the time of the infant’s death told detectives that they regularly snorted and smoked methamphetamine in the presence of the deceased child and two other juveniles. With this information, the two other juveniles inside the home were removed by DCF and placed with a family member.
As a result of this investigation, CCSO officials were able to obtain arrest warrants on all four subjects for the charges of Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child and three counts of Child Neglect each for the deceased and two other children that were present at the time of the incident. Both Gibson and Allison were additionally charged with Maintaining a Dwelling for the Purposes of Using a Controlled Substance.
CCSO personnel along with the United States Marshall’s Task Force were assigned to locate and apprehend the four suspects. United States Marshall’s Task Force members were able to locate Courtney and Allison in Citrus County, Carroll in Hernando County, and Gibson in Georgia. All were taken into custody without further incident.