A 5-YEAR OLD DEAD BECAUSE OF TWO MACHO MEN

Where is the justice in our legal system? It seems to work for some, but there are plenty of others who get screwed in the process over technicalities, prosecution errors, judicial red tape and bad juries. This man deserves to be in prison for trying to play 'big brother vigilante'. Because of his anger management problem and lack of consciousness, an innocent 5 year old girl is gone...her parents will never see her grow up, they will never see her graduate from high school, her father cannot walk her down the isle for a wedding she will never have. She was ripped of her childhood and future. This is a travesty and I hope the petition below makes a difference.

On Feb.1, 2003, escalating into gunfire and leaving a 5-year-old girl dead. Joshua Walsh was convicted of third-degree murder in the death of Marishka Lovett in 2004, but a but a Sumter County circuit court judge ordered a new trial citing possible misinformation given to jurors. 

Walsh faced a new trial in August 2005, once again the 25-year-old found himself facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

The Incident The fatal shooting stemmed from an altercation along State Road 466-A in Wildwood, according to the Fruitland Park Police Department. Tyrone Lovett, 32, and his 5-year-old daughter had driven to Marianna in his Ford Escort to pick up Sandra Vickson, Lovett's mother-in-law. 

On their way home to Wildwood, Lovett told police, a Trans-Am cut them off. Lovett, who admitted to drinking three Budweisers before the incident, pulled alongside the sports car and yelled at the two men in the car — Luther Parker, who was driving, and Jeremiah Walsh. 

Lovett then started tailing the Trans-Am, which prompted Walsh to call his brother Joshua for help, according to police. After about 15 miles, the Trans-Am finally pulled over onto the shoulder, where Joshua Walsh was waiting with a loaded shotgun in a red-and-blue Chevy S-10 pickup. Lovett parked in between the two vehicles and grabbed a box cutter. Before he got out of the car, however, he saw Joshua Walsh emerge from the pickup with a shotgun, he told police. On seeing the weapon, Lovett yelled to his daughter and mother-in-law to "duck," and then drove away.

As he fled the scene, Lovett hit Parker, who rolled off the hood and was not hurt, according to police. A high-speed chase ensued. As Lovett raced toward town, three shots pierced the back of his car. 

One shot punctured his trunk and went through his daughter's skull landing under the driver's seat. A second bullet took off part of Vickson's finger. A third shot pierced the back windshield. As his daughter lay bleeding in the back seat, Lovett drove to the Handy Way convenience store in Fruitland Park to call for help. 

Although Lovett and Vickson could not identify the license plates of the vehicles involved, a couple who reported a reckless driving incident helped police identify the Trans-Am and pickup. 

Walsh claimed that he fired at Lovett's car in retaliation after Lovett tried to run over Parker. When police arrived at Walsh's home after the shooting, he told officers he was unaware anyone was hurt from the three shots.

THE VERDICT:

After eight hours of deliberations over two days, the jury returned a verdict on Aug. 5, 2005, acquitting Joshua Walsh of all charges.

PUBLIC OUTRAGE AND PETITION:

We the 102 JAMZ Wake Up Posse and the Central Florida Community feel the not guilty vedict rendered in the case against Joshua Walsh was unjust. Walsh was charged with the third-degree murder of 5-year-old Marishka Lovett, found guilty only to have the verdict thrown out by Circuit Judge Hale Stancil. Walsh was found not guilty on all charges when retried. We hope that you will join us in our search for answers in this case.

This petition is not to personally attack Joshua Walsh, but to show that we as a community feel the our legal system has failed the Lovett family, and our community.

If you would like to join us in petitioning against this verdict in this caase please sign our petition and pass the word.
Background information Sharon "Beth" Walsh broke out in tears on Friday when a jury found her husband, Joshua Walsh, not guilty of killing 5-year-old Marishka Lovett in a February 2003 road-rage case. Walsh was charged with third-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and shooting into a vehicle. 

He was acquitted on all charges. The road-rage incident began when the victim's father, Tyrone Lovett, pursued Walsh's brother Jeremiah Walsh and brother-in-law Luther Wesley Parker after they cut him off in traffic. 

Joshua shot at an unarmed Lovett and his car. Marishka was shot in the head; her grandmother Sandra Vickson had her middle finger shot off. While the Walsh family celebrated the verdict, Tyrone Lovett looked straight ahead, showing no emotion. His family also stared in disbelief. They refused to comment. 

Walsh claimed shooting at Tyrone Lovett's car was in self-defense. State prosecutors argued that Walsh shot the gun as Lovett fled down County Road 466A to get away from the confrontation. "If everyone would have made a better choice that night . . . none of this would have ever happened," he said. 

For Walsh, this was a second chance at redemption. In February 2004, he was found guilty of all three charges but the verdict was later thrown out by Circuit Judge Hale Stancil who believed the facts of the case didn't warrant the guilty verdict. 

King said he was disappointed in Friday's verdict because the state had previously convicted Walsh. "It's more disappointing knowing he had been convicted by one jury," he said. "But I chose the law as a profession and I understand that some of these things happen."

Asked if justice was served, King replied, "I think Marishka deserved to grow up and live."