Deal in double slaying gets murder suspect house arrest and probation

A Rubonia man who was facing up to life in prison for murder is now on house arrest after taking a plea deal last month.

Ahmad “Geesey” Leon Dunbar, 39, had been charged with second-degree murder with a firearm in the 2016 fatal shooting of Karl Tuxford, 38. He was facing up to life in prison.

Just before 1 p.m. Jan. 19, 2016, Bradenton Police Department officers responded to the 1100 block of Eighth Avenue East to reports of a shooting and found Tuxford dead in his Jeep. Less than an hour later, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was called to Bishop Harbor Road in northern Manatee County after motorists spotted a body along the side of road, later identified to be that of Jordan Finlon.

Another suspect, Dwayne Edwards Cummings, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Dunbar had been a suspect in the death of Finlon as well but was never charged.

On Aug. 25, in a hearing not scheduled on the case’s docket, Dunbar pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory to first-degree murder after the fact negotiated by his court-appointed attorney Eric Reisinger and Assistant State Attorney Art Brown.

Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll sentenced Dunbar to credit for time served in the county jail and one year of house arrest followed one year of probation — a downward departure from sentencing guidelines. A condition of his plea deal is that Dunbar will have to testify against Cummings, according to the proffer he provided on Aug. 25.

Dunbar will eligible to have his house arrest converted to probation once Cummings’ trial is concluded, including the removal of his ankle monitor.

Based on the Dunbar’s criminal history and the accessory to murder charge to which he pleaded guilty, sentencing guidelines had him facing more than six years in prison as a minimum. He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

The plea came just days after both defendants’ trial been delayed to the trial period that begins Nov. 13.

The delays and pleas also came about three months after another suspect who became a key witness in the case died and a second witness was suffering from a life-threatening illness.

Fredrick “Freddie” Douglas, 44, died of natural causes in May, according to an autopsy report. Douglas had initially been wanted as a suspect in the case, but following his arrest on unrelated charges, he was questioned and not charged.

Douglas had given an emotional account of the brutal murders in which Tuxford was shot five times and Finlon stabbed 40 to 44 times, when he arrested on an unrelated charge and questioned by homicide detectives.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 11:40 PM with the headline "Deal in double slaying gets murder suspect house arrest and probation."