NATIONAL BRIEFING / FLORIDA
TIMES WIRE REPORTS
One man planned a home invasion and fatally shot a couple who had adopted several special-needs children, one of eight suspects in the case said.
According to court documents, Fredrick Thornton, 19, said martial arts instructor Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35, organized the July 9 attack and killed Byrd Billings, 66, and Melanie Billings, 43. Gonzalez has proclaimed his innocence.
The Billingses had 17 children, 13 adopted.
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