Brevard County, Florida

Election officials in several Florida counties, including Seminole, Broward, and Monroe, are investigating delays in vote-by-mail ballots moving through the U.S. Postal Service. Seminole County has issued more than 500 replacement ballots, with one local delivery taking seven days; a Broward official's son waited 12 days for a ballot sent from Orlando. USPS says it has found no delivery issues in Broward or Monroe. Central Florida counties outside Seminole report no similar problems. With Florida's 7 p.m. Nov. 3 return deadline approaching, officials are urging voters who haven't mailed ballots to instead vote early in person or drop ballots at secure intake stations.

A Brevard County, Florida, sheriff's deputy and a 26-year-old woman were killed early Sunday in a head-on collision on Interstate 95 near Titusville. Deputy Kevin Morris, 55, was en route to the scene of a deputy-involved shooting in Mims when the crash occurred around 11 p.m. Saturday. The woman, whose identity has not been released, had reportedly attended a beachside wedding earlier that day.

Authorities said the woman's vehicle was traveling north on I-95 before making a U-turn into oncoming lanes, striking Morris's SUV head-on. The reason for the maneuver is unknown, and the Florida Highway Patrol is investigating, including a toxicology exam of the woman. Sheriff Wayne Ivey praised Morris as a dedicated officer and family man who returned to law enforcement in 2021. The earlier shooting in Mims, which Morris was responding to, involved deputies fatally wounding a 79-year-old man who allegedly pointed a firearm at them during a mental health call; that incident remains under separate review.

Julia Egler, now 18, is expected to enter a plea and be sentenced Friday in the 2023 killings of her mother, Kelley McCollom, 38, and McCollom's boyfriend, Matthew Szejnrok, 22, at their Palm Bay, Florida home. Egler was 16 at the time of the killings.

Police said Egler initially called 911 claiming an intruder had attacked the victims, but investigators found bloody footprints matching her shoes and other evidence contradicting her account. After being read her Miranda rights, Egler confessed, telling police she waited for the victims with a revolver and knife taken from her mother's room, greeted them by saying "Welcome home," then shot and stabbed them. Investigators cited ongoing family conflict as a motive, including her mother's disapproval of Egler's gender transition and Egler's disapproval of her mother's relationship with Szejnrok.

The case drew national attention after Egler's interrogation video was made public. A grand jury indicted her on two counts of first-degree murder; rather than go to trial, she is expected to accept a plea deal.

Cassi Taylor, 20, was killed Monday in a chain-reaction crash on I-95 in Brevard County, Florida, after a vehicle ahead of her struck an alligator in the roadway. Taylor swerved to avoid the other car, lost control, and was thrown from her vehicle as it overturned into the center lane, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A third driver then struck her and fled the scene; that driver has not been located.

Taylor had joined the Indian River County Sheriff's Office on July 20 as a civilian corrections assistant and was set to be sworn in the day she died. She was the daughter of Deputy Scott Burke, a well-known figure in the local community. The sheriff's office mourned her as one of its "newest team members." FHP is asking anyone with information about the hit-and-run driver to come forward.

Brevard County, Florida authorities arrested Michael Barnard, 54, after he allegedly sent threatening emails to a judge overseeing one of his cases. Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Barnard used a newly created email address to send two messages telling the judge she had "made several poor decisions" and that he "was coming for her," including a demand that she dismiss a temporary order against him.

Investigators traced the emails to Barnard, who had been served a temporary restraining order just hours before sending the first message. Deputies arrested him at his residence on an existing warrant for violation of probation tied to a prior charge of written threats to kill or cause bodily harm. Barnard was additionally charged with corruption by threat against a public servant and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. He reportedly told agents he was upset about recent developments in his case.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper clocked Brevard County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Fultz riding his motorcycle at 111 mph in February but did not arrest him under Florida's "Super Speeder" law, which allows arrests for driving 100 mph or more in a dangerous manner. Body camera video shows the trooper initially say Fultz was "going to jail" before recognizing him as a fellow officer, then issuing only a civil citation. Fultz also lacked a motorcycle endorsement, which went uncited.

Fultz, named Brevard County's 2025 Deputy of the Year in March after fatally shooting a knife-wielding man, resigned in May as Sheriff Wayne Ivey moved to fire him for "egregious misconduct." An internal investigation, prompted by his ex-girlfriend's complaint, found Fultz had used racial slurs, misused the agency's license-plate reader system to search her tag, appeared in a photo mimicking a Nazi salute, and engaged in inappropriate conduct including an on-duty video call. Fultz paid the speeding fine, apologized publicly, and disputed some findings while accepting responsibility for his actions.