Man accused of killing teen writes letter to judge pleading for new attorney

Bryan Goggins Jr. being held in a Duval County jail without bond

Bryan Goggins Jr. booking photo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man accused of killing a teenage girl and shooting three adults in a Jacksonville neighborhood last August is pleading with a judge for a new attorney. 

Bryan Goggins Jr., 24, is charged with shooting Tamia Sanders, 15, her mother and two others on Aug. 13 as they were during a block party on West 38th Street in Brentwood. Sanders died of her injuries.

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Goggins was taken into custody at Tallahassee apartment complex during a standoff with U.S. Marshals about six weeks after the shootings. 

He was ordered held without bond on Duval County warrants charging him with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm, weapon and ammunition by a convicted felon and resisting arrest without violence, as well as drug and motor vehicle violations.

Goggins' mother told officers that she talked on the phone with her son after the shootings, and he told her he shot the victims. But since then, that's changed.

News4Jax on Friday obtained two affidavits -- one signed by Goggins' mother and the other one by his brother -- saying that Goggins was not even in Jacksonville when the shootings happened, but he was actually in Tallahassee.

This week, Goggins penned a handwritten letter to Judge Bruce Anderson.

In the letter, Goggins wrote to the judge that he wants a new public defender, claiming his attorney is pressuring him to do things he doesn't want to do. 

He also wrote, "I'm highly upset with how he has called my mom threatening her with jail, and telling me 'their affidavits are b*******.'"

He goes on to say, "Not once have I heard positive statements from my attorney. Everything has been negative."

The judge has not yet approved him for new counsel. Goggins' next court hearing is scheduled for March. 


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