[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 05/13/20]
LEESBURG, Florida — Text messages threatening to a kill a baby landed a Leesburg woman in jail less than a month after she was picked up on a warrant for attacking the baby’s mother while she was pregnant.
Leesburg Police responded to a home in Leesburg on May 2 in reference to Patricia Ann Pettis, 29, sending threatening texts to a woman she attacked in February when the woman was nine months pregnant, according to a probable cause affidavit. Pettis is alleged to have sent threatening texts, first in February, to the woman and just five days later she punched and kicked the woman in the stomach in Leesburg. Pettis was picked up on a warrant stemming from the February incident on April 21 and released on April 28. She sent a text stating, “Scary [expletive]” only two days after she was released on $15,000 bond, violating a no-contact order, a condition of her bond.
On May 2, Pettis is alleged to have texted, “Im (sic) kill that baby [expletive] I promise you [expletive expletive] dj dont (sic) care.” This was in reference to the victim’s newborn baby, according to the affidavit. Due to Pettis carrying out the threat in February, victim was afraid Pettis would make good on the latest threat, a detective noted in the affidavit.
Pettis was picked up by Leesburg Police on a warrant for written threats to kill and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. She was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she is being held on no bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
