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Lonzie's mother pleads guilty to multiple drug charges

By Bridgette Matter, Action News Jax
By Bridgette Matter, Action News Jax
Lonna Lauramore Barton, the mother of Jacksonville toddler Lonzie Barton, pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges from a case in Baker County on Tuesday. 

Lauramore Barton will be in prison for the next 12 years for charges in both Baker and Duval County and will then serve three years probation.

Chris Barton, Lonzie Barton's father and Lonna's husband, pleaded guilty to drug charges and simple battery in jail. Barton's battery charge stemmed from a fight with Ransom Barefoot in the Baker County Jail. Barefoot had claimed to be Lonzie Barton's biological father multiple times.

Chris Barton was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of probation.

The drug charges for Chris and Lonna Lauramore Barton were unrelated to the Lonzie Barton case. 
Barton pleaded guilty to child neglect charges in connection with her son’s disappearance in Duval County in January. Her boyfriend Ruben Ebron pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated manslaughter and received a 20-year sentence. 
Baker County officials said Lauramore Barton and Chris would be allowed to attend a funeral for their son. Chris Barton is in the Bradford County Jail on the drug charges but was in the same courtroom with Lonna on Tuesday. 

Chris Barton and Lonna Lauramore Barton were arrested Sept. 16 in Baker County after officers tracked them for about a month in connection with a drug investigation.

An informant met up with them at the Motel 6 to buy MDMA, also known as Molly. The informant told detectives he saw Chris Barton help Lonna Lauramore Barton inject narcotics into her left arm with a syringe.

The pair were arrested with a third man, Shawn Clayton Hall. Hall was found dead in a Baker County home on Oct. 31.

Action News Jax reporter Bridgette Matter and photographer Steve Berrios were in the the courtroom and Tweeted these updates: 

Cox Media Group

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