- May 1, 2024
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Billy Jermaine Lovett, 22, was found guilty of an April 2010 masked robbery, in Bunnell.
After a two-day trial, a jury deliberated Wednesday for approximately two hours before finding Billy Jermaine Lovett, 22, guilty as charged in connection with an April 2010 robbery with a firearm while wearing a mask.
Around 9:15 p.m. April 20, 2010, Lovett entered Nora’s Food Mart, in Bunnell. He was wearing a black hood and wearing a bandana. Owner Fatiha Mubarak was working the cash register that night.
Upon entering the store, Lovett pointed a gun at Mubarak and demanded all the money in the cash register, according to the report.
Mubarak told deputies that she showed Lovett the empty cash register. Lovett then ran out of the store with approximately $150, but dropped some on the floor, according to the report.
Mubarak told deputies that she recognized Lovett’s mannerisms, physical appearance and unusual markings on his fingernails, but wasn’t able to provide his name.
Deputies recovered the bandana Lovett was wearing the night of the robbery. Then, on April 21, Mubarak visited the Bunnell Police Department and was shown photos believed to be Lovett.
Mubarak was able to pick out Lovett “without hesitation,” the report states.
Additionally, deputies used DNA found on the retrieved bandana to arrest Lovett.
“The DNA determination proved to be a key piece of evidence in the trial,” according to a March 29 release by the State Attorney’s Office.
The case was tried by Assistant State Attorneys Ben Fox and Ken Ulich.
Sentencing for Lovett is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. May 3, before Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano.
According to Fox, Lovett faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a 10-year minimum mandatory sentence, pursuant to Florida’s 10-20-Life law for using a firearm in the robbery.
