PANAMA CITY, Fla. – A Panama City couple has been arrested after investigators said two children reported being threatened with a sledgehammer and having their belongings destroyed during an incident at their home.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Keith Hall, 42, and Maggie Gurley, 39, on Sept. 30 following an investigation that began earlier in the month.
Hall is charged with two counts each of aggravated assault, child abuse and tampering with a victim. Gurley, the children’s mother, is charged with two counts of failure to protect and two counts of tampering with a victim.
The investigation began Sept. 2 when a school resource deputy at Merritt Brown Middle School received an anonymous online report concerning two children who lived with Hall, their stepfather, and Gurley.
During separate interviews, the children described an incident approximately two weeks earlier that began when Hall confronted them about a damaged tripod.
When neither child admitted breaking it, Hall retrieved a large sledgehammer and brought it into their bedrooms, according to investigators.
The children said Hall swung the sledgehammer around the rooms, destroying furniture and personal belongings. One child told investigators that Hall ordered the child to put a hand on a table and then raised the sledgehammer as though he intended to strike the child’s hand.
The other child reported seeing how frightened the sibling was and falsely claimed responsibility for breaking the tripod in an effort to protect them. Both children told investigators they believed Hall was going to hurt them.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Gurley was present and eventually intervened, telling Hall, “We’re not doing this.”
Investigators said Hall and Gurley later instructed the children not to discuss the incident. The damaged furniture and other belongings were removed from the bedrooms and burned in a backyard burn pile.
Both children subsequently underwent forensic interviews. Investigators were advised that the interviews contained “some indicators of mental injury” and supported concerns that the incident had caused psychological harm.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the residence Sept. 30 and arrested Hall and Gurley.
After being advised of his rights, Hall admitted using a sledgehammer to destroy furniture and other property in the children’s bedrooms while the children were present, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said he also acknowledged making the children carry the damaged property to a backyard burn pile, where he burned it, and showed investigators where the sledgehammer was located.
Gurley told investigators she witnessed Hall destroying the children’s belongings and that both children were present and crying, according to the Sheriff’s Office. She also acknowledged that those present believed Hall was going to strike one of the children with the sledgehammer.
Investigators said Gurley admitted telling the children not to tell anyone about what happened and acknowledged that she did not report the incident.
Hall and Gurley were booked into the Bay County Jail.