2011 Top Stories

A DeLeon Springs man was shot and kiled by a deputy after refusing to put down a rifle while a warrant was being served at his residence as shown in the ocator map.

DELEON SPRINGS -- A Volusia County Sheriff's deputy who was part of a team serving a search warrant early this morning, shot and killed a man on June 29, who armed himself with a rifle and refused orders to put down the weapon.

The shooting occurred at 5:44 a.m., inside a home on State Road 11 in DeLeon Springs. It comes in at No. 71 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

Gerry Burkatovsky, shown in the larger photo, is charged with murder in the 2011 throat-slash slayings of Michael Shaffer and Danny Edwards, whose bodies were dumped in Edgewater, according to law enforcement.

EDGEWATER -- Police Chief Dave Arcieri remembers the bodies like it was yesterday -- two stabbed men with slashed throats found in a remote area of the edge of the city near Interstate 95. It was obvious they were killed elsewhere and discarded here.

Buzzards flying overhead drew the attention of passersby on Opossum Road and the grisly find, which led to Edgewater police response. That was Aug. 22, 2011. Gennadiy "Gerry" Burkatovsky, 36, was being held without bail on Jan. 18, one day after an Orange County grand jury handed up two indictments charging him with tow counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of 46-year-old Michael Shaffer and Danny Edwards, 49.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Six-year-old Nakya Jones is wise enough to know the real Santa Claus rides a sleigh when he comes to town. The so-called Santa she saw Saturday came to town in a train.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Those who walked by a vendor tent for helmet art work at the Cabbage Patch in Samsula during Bike Week wondered if the life-like figure in body paint was the real thing.

Freddie Lee Giddens Jr. of Palm Coast was sentenced in July to 30 years in prison for a brutal prescription drug robbery of an Ormond Beach pharmacy the previous September. The minimum-mandatory of 25 years handed down will keep him behind bars until the age of 57.

DAYTONA BEACH -- A 32-year-old Palm Coast man convicted at trial in May of sticking a gun in the face of a pharmacy tech in Ormond Beach for painkillers and other prescription drugs was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the sentence includes a minimum day-to-day 25 years of incarceration.

Circuit Judge Frank Marriott adjudicated Freddie Lee GiddensJr., on charges of robbery with a firearm, kidnapping, trafficking drugs and possession of a firearm by a felony and imposed a $500,000 fine. Marriott called the robbery "senseless and brutal."

The tough sentence comes in at No. 73 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 stories of 2012.

A kitchen fire in an apartment at the Groves Apartments on Aug. 18, resulted in a man's death, but the fire was contained to his unit.

PORT ORANGE -- A 66-year-old man perished in a fire in his residence at the Groves Apartments in August, but firefighters were able to limit the flames to the victim's dwelling.

He was identified as Richard Lynn Wagner. The tragedy comes in as No. 75 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Future Hall of Famer and occasional New Smyrna Beach resident Johnny Damon was picked up by the Cleveland Indians for the 2012 MLB season, his sixth team.

The outfielder/DH played the previous season for the Tampa Rays where he batted .261 with 16 HRs and 73 RBIs in 150 games. He's played on two World Series championship teams -- the Boston Red Sox in 2004, and the New York Yankees in 2009.

Damon's new team is No. 77 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local teams of 2012.

Photo for Headline Surfer / This shot taken from the rafters of the New Smyrna Beach High School gymnasium on Dec. 12, will be used for a new poster to help high school students throughout Central Florida learn about the importance of organ and tissue donation.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Some 350 students, along with a few teachers and administrators, formed the No. 8 inside the high school gym in December to symbolize the number of lives that could be saved from the organs of someone who has died.

Adam Royce Duke, shown at far left with his sister Danielle on his Facebook page, was struck and killed by a train in Edgewater in June. A remembrance photo of him with a nephew placed on his profile page, describes him as "Son, Brother, Friend."

EDGEWATER -- A man killed after slipping on the railroad tracks while throwing rocks at a train on June 12 has been identified by cops as 24-year-old Adam Royce Duke.

And a local family remembering the loss of a father now come to grips with the loss of his son, a young man with a life filled with possibilities. It coms in as No. 79 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

Headline Surfer photos by Henry Frederick / County Council Chair Frank Bruno and council member Joie Alexander show their appreciation for members of the Daytona Area Chamber of Commerce and representatives of five other chambers during a luncheon in August.

DELAND -- County Chair Frank Bruno told 50 chamber executives and other business leaders at an Aug. 9 luncheon that the naysayers will always be critical of issues like the Ocean Center and its reliance on taxpayer funding, but overall he's pleased with the way things are going.

"You can make negatives out of anything," Bruno told the gathering in a meeting room at the administration building, making reference to the Daytona venue that was brought up by an earlier speaker referencing to it costing less than in previous years. "I'm very proud of our quality of life in Volusia County."

This luncheon comes in at No. 80 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.