Third resident of same home charged with lewd and lascivious battery against victim under age 12
Two Sarasota residents have been charged with multiple felony counts related to weapons that Sarasota Police Department personnel found in their home after executing a Hillsborough County search and arrest warrant on one suspect on Jan. 8, the Police Department reported this week.
Justus Matthew Mills, 20, of 1579 28th St. was charged initially with three counts of possession and sale of bump stocks, and the unlawful use of two-way communications, a news release said. After his arrest, the release added, he also was charged with possession of a firearm by felony delinquent.
Mills was wanted on four Hillsborough County counts, including possession and sale of Glock switches, which are accessories capable of converting guns into a fully automatic weapons, the news release pointed out.
Additionally, Gevynn Amberly Loretta Cisneros, 22, also of 1579 28th St. in Sarasota, initially was charged with three counts of possession and sale of bump stocks and unlawful use of two-way communications, the release continued. After her arrest, law enforcement personnel added a count of possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Mills’ arrest identified Cisneros as his girlfriend, The Sarasota News Leader learned.
“Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies established probable cause for Cisnero’s arrest” on the weapons charges while Sarasota Police Department personnel were at the 28th Street house, the news release indicated.
Mills was ordered held on $20,000 bond, 12th Judicial Circuit Court records show. The News Leader learned from court records that he has pleaded “Not Guilty” in the case and has demanded a jury trial. He is being represented by Assistant Public Defender Andrew Gustavo Batchie, as shown in the plea document.
Cisnero’s bond amount on the marijuana charge was $2,500, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division records show.
She, too, has pleaded “Not Guilty” and has demanded a jury trial, as shown in records maintained by the office of Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing and her staff.
A third person was arrested in conjunction with the search of the 28th Street house, the Police Department noted. Desman Dominique Kennedy, 21, also of 1579 28th St. in Sarasota, was seen leaving the home when officers arrived, the release continued. He is facing a felony charge of lewd and lascivious battery against a victim under age 12, the release noted. His Probable Cause Affidavitsays that that the mother of the victim filed a report with the Police Department on Nov. 6, 2025.
The Jan. 8 execution of the search warrant was conducted by Sarasota Police Department SWAT members, Community Action Team (CAT) officers and Strategic Investigations Unit (SIU) detectives, the release noted.
The action was taken in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as part of an ongoing investigation, the Sarasota Police Department release said.
The following items were seized during execution of the search warrant, the release added: a semi-automatic shotgun, extended magazines, shotgun ammunition, miscellaneous 9mm and .22-caliber ammunition, marijuana paraphernalia and 228.9 grams of marijuana.
“This case remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the release emphasized. “Anyone with any information is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or you can remain anonymous and call Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-TIPS (8477).”
Details about the search
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Mills’ arrest said that while executing Hillsborough County warrants for his cell phone and his arrest, Sarasota Police officers found a 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun inside “the bedroom determined to belong to Justus Mills” and Cisneros. The “owner of the residence, Natasha Kennedy, confirmed that the bedroom belonged to Mills and Cisneros,” the affidavit added.
The shotgun was in a case with two magazines of 12 gauge ammunition, the affidavit noted.
On the scene, it continued, members of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Gun Intelligence Working Group found on Mills’ cell phone a video of Mills “at a shooting range, operating a shotgun of similar make, model, and style of the shotgun recovered [in the house].”
The affidavit pointed out that while Mills had faced “several previous felony charges,” he had had no convictions. However, it said, adjudication had been withheld in two cases in Pinellas County. He had been charged with committing a robbery with a firearm and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The affidavit indicated that the adjudication was withheld because he “would have been a juvenile” when he was charged in those cases. He was prohibited from owning firearms until he turned 24, it pointed out.
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Cisneros’ arrest on the marijuana charge said that when the Sarasota Police personnel executed the search warrant at the 28th Street house about 10 a.m. on Jan. 8, she was among the occupants of the home, all of whom were ordered to remain outside.
While she was across the street from the house, the affidavit continued, a UPS driver walked up to her with a package that had her name and the 28th Street residence’s address on it. The UPS driver requested her signature, which she provided, the affidavit noted. When a law enforcement officer asked her what was in the package, she responded that it contained “half a pound of marijuana.”
The detective who had posed the question “opened the package and discovered a vacuum sealed bag of a green leafy substance,” the affidavit continued. Through field testing, the affidavit noted, officers learned that the substance was marijuana. The “raw weight” was 228.9 grams, the affidavit said. However, “[a] check of the marijuana registry revealed that Cisneros has never been issued a medical marijuana card.”
Thus, the affidavit pointed out, a crime scene technician collected the package, its label and the marijuana and placed them into Police Department property as evidence.
In a review of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records in for all three defendants, the News Leader found no other charges against Mills.
Cisneros has faced citations for driving while her license was suspended or revoked and failing to stop for a red light, the records say.
Among prior charges against Kennedy have been two counts of Unknowingly Operating a Vehicle While Driver’s License Suspended/Canceled/Revoked — one in August 2024 and one in January 2025; along with one count of speeding in a school zone, which came in November 2025.