One Sarasota woman and one from Palmetto charged with three felony counts and one misdemeanor charge
Two women have been charged with felony counts of Robbery, Theft of a Firearmand Armed Burglary, along with a misdemeanor count of Battery, after allegedly fighting with a third woman over romantic interest in a man, the Sarasota Police Department has reported.
Shakeria E. Mitchell, 27, of 321 12th St. West in Palmetto, and Kaylie S. Moya, 23, of 316 N. Pompano Ave. in Sarasota, were arrested after an incident that reportedly occurred on Jan. 20, about 30 minutes before midnight, at a Novus Court address in Sarasota, according to their Probable Cause Affidavits.
“The two women worked as caretakers at a local assisted living facility,” a Police Department news release said.
Mitchell was released from the Sarasota County Jail under total bond of $24,000, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office’s Corrections Division records show. Her arraignment is set for March 10.
Moya remained in jail as of Feb. 1; her total bond was $17,000, her Corrections Division records show. Moya’s arraignment on the Armed Burglary and Battery counts is scheduled for March 3; she is to be arraigned on March 10 on the other charges, the Corrections Division record notes.
The victim was a 28-year-old Hispanic woman whose identity is being withheld under the guidelines of the state’s Marsy’s Law, which allows victims’ names to be shielded from the public.
According to the affidavits, the victim told officers that, just after 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 20, she messaged Moya through Instagram “to speak to her about Jarvarius Jarvonta Kevon Cannon.” The victim added that Cannon had been “in an on-again off-again relationship” with both her and Moya “for several months.”
Further, the victim explained to officers that “she was trying to come to an agreement with Moya,” because the victim no longer wanted “to fight and argue over Cannon.”
The victim said that Moya “got upset about the Instagram messages and accused her of trying to take Cannon away from [Moya],” the affidavit continues. Although the argument reached no resolution through the messages, the affidavit says, “Moya just stopped responding” to the victim’s messages.
Alleged fight at the victim’s home
Around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 20, the affidavit continues, the victim reported that Moya and a Black woman the victim did not know — who later was identified as Mitchell — showed up at the victim’s home ”and started yelling outside.”
Moy and Mitchell wanted her to come out of the dwelling “so they could fight,” the victim told the officers, but the victim said she refused to do so, and she also would not open the front door.
At that point, the affidavit notes, the victim reported that Moya picked up a wheelbarrow planter in the front yard and threw it into the house. The victim said that the plantar shattered the front window in the living room, and then “Moya and Mitchell began kicking the front door,” according to the affidavit. The deadbolt on the door broke, the victim added, and the women entered the house.
The victim pointed out that her 5-year-old daughter was in the living room with two adult women, who also live in the house. The victim added that she ran into her bedroom, with Moya and Mitchell following her. The affidavit says that the victim reported that Moya “started hitting, punching, and pulling [the victim’s] hair.” The victim tried to get Moya to stop, the affidavit continues; however, Moya pulled the victim onto the floor, climbed on top of her “and began to choke her with two hands.”
Mitchell pulled Moya off the victim, the affidavit says, but the victim reported that “she was in fear for her life,” so she removed a firearm from a draw of her nightstand and fired a single round into the ceiling of her bedroom, “in an attempt to scare off Moya and Mitchell.”
When the victim then began screaming for Moya and Mitchell to leave, the victim told the officers, “they began fighting over the firearm on the bed,” as the affidavit notes. The victim added that Mitchell was able to get the firearm away from her and hit the victim in the back of the head with it.
“Both Moya and Mitchell continued to beat up [the victim],” the affidavit says.
Then one of the victim’s roommates called 911, so Moya and Mitchell fled the scene, taking the firearm with them, along with the victim’s cell phone.
The victim “had visible marks on her neck and forehead,” the affidavit points out. “She also had several bloody scratches on her arms from fighting off Moya and Mitchell,” the affidavit adds.
The victim described the firearm as a .380-caliber gun with a pink handle and black slide; she added that she had loaded six bullets into it, though the magazine holds eight, the affidavit says.
Further, while the victim was able to describe Moya’s vehicle to the officers, she said she did not know what type of vehicle Mitchell drove.
Officers arrested Moya at her home at 7 a.m. on Jan. 21, the affidavit notes.
A person whose name was redacted in the affidavit was able to show Police Department detectives “Instagram videos of Moya and Mitchell drinking together” earlier during the night of the alleged incident, the affidavit points out. As a result, detectives were able to identify Mitchell, as well. She also was arrested on Jan. 21, her affidavit says.
Prior charges for Mitchell
In a search of 12th Judicial Circuit Court records for Sarasota County, The Sarasota News Leader found no prior criminal charges for Moya.
A search of the Manatee County Clerk of Court’s records found six traffic cases in which Mitchell had been charged, plus a small claims case dating to Jan. 12 of this year.
In the latter case, the complaint says that Mitchell obtained and used a Synchrony Bank revolving credit account to make purchases. However, the complaint adds, she failed to make the monthly payments on that account, so she owes a balance of $1,409.79.
That case remains open, court records note.