1 week Ago By USA TODAY
It was a sight that left Mike Jones sick to his stomach. There, live on his phone, was his son lying in the grass as a woman clutching a long pellet gun screamed, accusing the 15-year-old athlete and his 13-year-old friend of trespassing in back yards of a residential area in Melbourne, Florida. The woman holding the gun, Donna Marie Elkins, 59, was later arrested on two counts of aggravated assault without intent to kill and two counts of false imprisonment.
Brevard County sheriff's deputies say she held the teens, who were fishing in a pond near her property, against their will with the firearm. “I actually could hear it all via FaceTime ..
. I was trying to talk my son through it," said Jones, a Melbourne resident. "I told him just do what she was telling you.
The scariest thing is knowing that your son is in immediate harm and you’re watching it. There was a moment when she said that she would ‘blow their brains out.' It was just hard to watch.
” Sheriff's deputies were called before 8 p.m. on March 28 to Elkins' residence to investigate a disturbance, records show.
Deputies said the property in question did not belong to Elkins. Elkins, released from the Brevard County Jail Complex on a $25,000 bond, told FLORIDA TODAY, part of the USA TODAY Network, that she was frightened and that other instances of people walking on her property have been reported before. In this case, she had called 911 dispatchers to report finding the two boys fishing on her property, and told dispatchers that she had “petrified them," arrest reports show.
"One of these kids had walked up to my screened-in enclosure. It looked like he was carrying something black, but it turned out to be a cast (on his arm)," Elkins said. Deputies: Teens said they were afraid for lives Video captured live by Jones' son as the incident unfolded shows the boys were lying on the ground, as Elkins shouted.
Elkins told police that she scared the boys by holding them at bay with the pellet gun, purchased at a tractor store. The teens, ordered to not move, told arriving deputies that they were afraid for their lives, court records show. Her husband, who says his wife is disabled, can be seen on the video walking up and taking the pellet gun away from her.
Deputies determined that the pond in which the boys were fishing is actually about 30 feet away from the woman’s property line. Elkins, however, said that anyone walking to the fishing area would have to pass through several yards. Elkins was handcuffed and booked into the Brevard County jail.
"I've been judged so badly, lied on. People are just ripping me apart. I feel horrible but I was freaked out.
We've had homeless people back here. And we do have a sign out that says no fishing," Elkins said. "I'm extremely sorry but I wouldn't be walking in anybody's back yard in today's world.
" Jones, however, said he hoped justice would be served. The incident shook the boys and raised questions about property rights and the appropriate response for residents concerned about the potential for trespassing. “I mean, I'm not trying not to be angry, I'm trying to shift my feelings more to finding a resolution.
My son is an athlete but the way he's handled everything is the way I hope all of us can handle this," Jones said. "He's a sweet kid. He was blessed enough to walk away unharmed but what happens when the next kid doesn't have the same manners that he did? I just want to make sure this doesn't happen to another kid.
" J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.
Contact Gallop at [email protected] or on X @JDGallop. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Video shows woman charged with assault holding teens at gunpoint.
