As 2023 winds down, here's a look at Daytona's top 10 local news headlines of the year

Ashley Varese, Daytona Beach News-Journal
Updated ·5 min read
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A mercy killing in a hospital room. A drunken ex-wrestling diva is sentenced for DUI manslaughter. A high school teacher is charged with molesting students. And a cop jails his young son as a potty training lesson.

There was no shortage of bizarre headlines coming out of Volusia and Flagler counties this past year. So just in case you missed them, here's a countdown of the 10 most clicked-on, local Daytona Beach News-Journal stories of 2023.

10. Woman, 76, accused of shooting husband in Daytona hospital

Ellen Gilland, accused of killing her terminally ill husband, is escorted to the defense table, Thursday, March 2, 2023, for a bond hearing before Judge Raul Zambrano at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.
Ellen Gilland, accused of killing her terminally ill husband, is escorted to the defense table, Thursday, March 2, 2023, for a bond hearing before Judge Raul Zambrano at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

When Ellen Gilland, 76, shot and killed her terminally ill, 77-year-old husband, Jerry, in his hospital room at AdventHealth Daytona Beach on Jan. 21, it was national news.

Gilland brought a gun into the hospital and, after shooting her husband, pointed it in the direction of a nurse and a security officer, and later fired toward police, according to a detective.

Gilland was charged with first-degree murder, an offense that carries a mandatory life sentence but a grand jury in February indicted her on the lesser charge of assisting self-murder/manslaughter. The case is ongoing.

9. Orca dies in Palm Coast

In what was referred to as a "very rare event," Palm Coast saw its first stranded orca.

The 21-foot whale died on Jan. 11 after beaching itself south of Jungle Hut Park. It was the first killer whale stranding seen in the Southeastern United States, said an expert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southeast region.

8. Ex-wrestling diva gets 17-plus years

On Aug. 26, Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch, 50, pleaded no contest to one count of DUI manslaughter and several related charges when she slammed into the back end of a vehicle stopped at a red light in Ormond Beach.

Killed in the crash was Julian "Fran" Lasseter of Daytona Beach Shores. Sytch was sentenced last month to 17.6 years in prison followed by eight years of probation.

The former World Wrestling Entertainment star's blood-alcohol content was between 0.32 and 0.36 less than an hour after the crash, four times the legal limit of 0.08.

7. Cop jails 3-year-old in potty-training lesson

Daytona Beach Shores police Sgt. Jessica Long and Lt. Michael Schoenbrod appear in Volusia Circuit Court on July 17 in support of their petition to keep confidential investigative records related to their jailing of their son for potty-training lessons on Oct. 5 and 6, 2022.
Daytona Beach Shores police Sgt. Jessica Long and Lt. Michael Schoenbrod appear in Volusia Circuit Court on July 17 in support of their petition to keep confidential investigative records related to their jailing of their son for potty-training lessons on Oct. 5 and 6, 2022.

In another story that made national headlines, Daytona Beach Shores Police Lt. Michael Schoenbrod and Det. Sgt. Jessica Long jailed their 3½-year-old child on two occasions — the second time, the child was handcuffed — after claiming the toddler was struggling with potty training.

An investigation into the two high-ranking officials was originally sealed by the court, but The News-Journal and the Florida Center for Government Accountability successfully challenged that decision.

Schoenbrod has since resigned from the department.

6. Shores condos hit with 563% insurance rate increase

From left, Rob Lasch, Jim Smith and Tom Baker, board members of the Marbella Condominiums Association board, pose outside their building in Daytona Beach Shores, where their building insurance fee in 2022 of just over $40,000 jumped to more than $269,000 this year.
From left, Rob Lasch, Jim Smith and Tom Baker, board members of the Marbella Condominiums Association board, pose outside their building in Daytona Beach Shores, where their building insurance fee in 2022 of just over $40,000 jumped to more than $269,000 this year.

Residents of Marbella, a 24-unit building at 3343 S. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach Shores, couldn't believe it when their property insurance jumped from $40,534 for 2022 to nearly $269,000 – a 563% increase.

And the increase came despite the history of Marbella, which was built in 2007 and never filed a claim, as expressed by condo owner Tom Baker.

“In a minute, I wouldn’t pay another dime in property insurance, because it is illegal, it is immoral, and it’s wrong. You can’t justify this payment. This is out-and-out stealing. Theft,” he said. “And excuse me for being passionate. I am pissed.”

5. Tree-cutting fine freaks out Astor residents

The stump of a 55-inch laurel oak tree is shown in the Jungle Den Villas condos in Astor. A condo association is facing hefty costs after having the tree cut without a permit in January.
The stump of a 55-inch laurel oak tree is shown in the Jungle Den Villas condos in Astor. A condo association is facing hefty costs after having the tree cut without a permit in January.

The Jungle Den Villas condo association paid a company to cut down a large decaying oak tree in Astor after learning it posed a danger to the property.

The last thing residents were expecting was a notice from Volusia County claiming they violated its tree laws and could face more than $20,000 in replacement costs.

The county's tree regulations outline such hefty costs for people who, mistakenly or otherwise, run afoul of permitting requirements.

4. Fleeing motorcyclist flips off deputy seconds before he's T-boned

Karma came quickly for one Bike Week reveler who was caught on video flipping off a deputy before running a red light and getting T-boned by a pickup truck.

Joshua Richardson not only survived the crash, he briefly tried to flee before being apprehended, according to deputies.

3. Teacher accused of having sexual relations with student

Arin Hankerd pleads no contest before Circuit Judge Karen Foxman at the Justice Center in Daytona Beach, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Arin Hankerd pleads no contest before Circuit Judge Karen Foxman at the Justice Center in Daytona Beach, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.

Former teacher Arin Hankerd, 43, pled no contest to charges of lewd behavior while he was teaching at two Volusia County high schools. Now he faces up to 180 years in prison when he is sentenced next month.

Hankerd, of Ormond Beach, was charged with inappropriately touching a 15-year-old student when he was a teacher at Atlantic High School earlier this year.

Hankerd was also charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor involving a former student. That charge and a related charge involve a then-17-year-old female student Hankerd met in 2019 when he was a physical education teacher at Mainland High School.

2. Tammy Sytch pleads no contest in fatal DUI crash

Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch is escorted to the defense table by Volusia Sheriff's Office bailiffs, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, during her sentencing.
Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch is escorted to the defense table by Volusia Sheriff's Office bailiffs, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, during her sentencing.

The Tammy Sytch story drew a lot of interest from people outside of the Daytona Beach area, as evidenced by a second appearance of the wrestling diva in the top 10.

This time the story was about her no-contest plea in the crash that killed 75-year-old Julian "Fran" Lasseter.

Sytch, 50, whose bond was revoked, had entered a plea of not guilty on May 31, 2022, to the charges stemming from the deadly traffic crash in Ormond Beach. She changed that plea later as part of an agreement with prosecutors. (See story No. 8.)

1. Matanzas High School student attacks teacher's aide

In February Brendan Depa, then 17, was caught on video brutally attacking teacher's aide Joan Naydich in a hallway at Matanzas High School. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound Depa towered over Naydich, who is 5-foot-8 and weighs about 150 pounds.

The security video showed Depa knocking Naydich to the floor and then beating her as she lay unconscious and defenseless.

Joan Naydich, the teachers aide who was brutally beaten by a special needs student at Matanzas High School, talks to The Daytona Beach News-Journal about that day.
Joan Naydich, the teachers aide who was brutally beaten by a special needs student at Matanzas High School, talks to The Daytona Beach News-Journal about that day.

Naydich told The News-Journal that the beating left her with a traumatic brain injury, five broken ribs, problems with her shoulder, and hearing and vision problems, among other injuries.

Depa, meanwhile, is in jail on $1 million bond and has pleaded no contest to aggravated battery on a school board employee. He faces up to 30 years in prison. His sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 31.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: What were The News-Journal's most-read local news stories of 2023?