Tag Archives: Tower Road

Voter guide: Gainesville’s 2022 election races

The contentious Gainesville mayoral race has generated over $100,000 in total campaign contributions; Bielarski has fundraised more than $58,000, while Ward has collected more than $63,000. Ward, currently in his second term as a Gainesville City Commissioner, voted in January to fire Bielarski as general manager of Gainesville Regional Utilities. …

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Two men arrested on charges related to running a human sex trafficking business in a Gainesville group home

Two men were arrested Tuesday and accused of running a human sex trafficking business in a Gainesville group home. The arrests happened at a Gate gas station on 3001 NW 13th Street at 4 p.m. The suspects' identities were confirmed as 20-year-old Kevarius Nyrtell King and 25-year-old Justin Terrel Hoyt. The victim was living in the Safe Hands Group Home, a housing service partnered with homeless shelters and co-owned by King since a little less than a year ago. The two men forced the victim into multiple sexual acts, sometimes without her consent, with dozens of men in the group home. Police were able to report the crime as the victim had told the staff at the Tower Road Branch Library that she was a victim of human trafficking and to alert the authorities. Through a search warrant of the group home, police were able to confirm the identities of King and Hoyt and later arrest and charge them with human sex trafficking. King and Hoyt are currently booked in the Alachua County Jail, each with release bonds set at $250,000.

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