GADSDEN COUNTY CONVICTION

FDLE arrests three in Gadsden

County, illegal guns, drugs seized

GADSDEN COUNTY – Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents, assisted by law enforcement officers with the Quincy Police Department (QPD), the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), arrested Trenika Lashawn Ward, 45, Jeremy Jerod Byrd, 27, and Marcus Coster Jr., 19, all of Quincy.

Ward is charged with one count of felon in possession of a firearm, Byrd is charged with one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and Coster is charged with one count of violation of pretrial release conditions, in addition to one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony from an arrest earlier this month.

The case began in Feb. 2023, when FDLE, QPD, FHP and ATF launched a joint investigation into a group of individuals involved in illegal narcotics and firearms violations. On March 8, Coster was arrested during a traffic stop, which resulted in the seizure of a pound of marijuana and two firearms.

On March 31, FDLE agents, alongside QPD officers, FHP troopers, and investigators with Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, served a search warrant on a residence in Quincy. Inside the residence, agents located six more firearms – including two AR-15 semi-automatic pistols – as well as four ounces of marijuana and several grams of suspected heroin.

The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.

Ward, Byrd and Coster were booked into the Gadsden County Jail. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

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Elijah Byrd found guilty at trial of possession of a firearm by felon and resisting an officer

CHATTAHOOCHEE – At approximately 2:45 a.m. the Defendant, Elijah Byrd,  was found sleeping in a car with the engine on in Flint Garden Apartments. There was a mandatory curfew in place during the time due to the pandemic. An officer with the Chattahoochee Police Department notice the Defendant sleeping in the car. The officer approached and asked the Defendant for his identification. He gave his identification card. The picture on the identification card matched the Defendant. The officer then gave dispatch the Defendant’s name and the vehicle’s tag information.

Dispatch informed the officer that the vehicle was reported stolen from Jacksonville. The officer then radioed for back up. A deputy arrived for assistance from the Gadsden County Sheriff’s office. At that time, the officer asked the Defendant to exit the vehicle. The Defendant immediately fled from officers on foot. As he was fleeing, he dropped a loaded .380 Ruger with an extended clip. The officers gave a short chase but was unable to apprehend the Defendant. The officer was later informed by dispatch that the Defendant was a convicted felon.

A warrant review was sent to the State Attorney’s office for review. The Defendant was later charged by Information with one count of possession of firearm by a convicted felon and resisting officer without violence.

At trial, the defense argued that there was a misidentification; the suspect was not the Defendant. The officer on scene testified that he had no doubt that the person he attempted to detain that night was the Defendant. There was no evidence presented to suggest otherwise.

The Defendant was found guilty as charged on both counts.