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Florida nonprofit leaders replaced after alarming investigation. A Florida nonprofit replaced top leaders, including its CEO, after an investigation revealed failures linked to three killings. Sarasota Herald-Tribune April 3, 2026, 4:05 a.m. ET * Centerstone of Florida has replaced four top executives following a Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigation. * The investigation highlighted cases where Centerstone lost track of two clients who later committed three murders. * The report also revealed Centerstone knowingly paid an unlicensed group home operator with a criminal history to house patients. * Fallout from the investigation includes a potential multi-million dollar lawsuit settlement and a local effort to regulate group homes. Centerstone of Florida has replaced its top administrators in the aftermath of a Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigation that focused on the mishandling of two clients who murdered three people. Among the four executives no longer employed with the behavioral hospital and addiction center in Bradenton is Dr. Lisa Williams, who was the regional chief executive officer in charge of Florida operations. Williams served as CEO for only 14 months. Also replaced was chief operating officer Roger Johnson, who had been employed by Centerstone for over 32 years. He had been COO since 2019. Charles Whitfield, vice president of community care, and Jane Roseboro, vice president of community alignment, are also no longer employed by Centerstone. A spokesman for Centerstone of America - which is Centerstone of Florida's parent company in Tennessee - confirmed the shakeup of the top executives. Robert Lambert, vice president of corporate communications for Centerstone of America, did not indicate whether the four were fired or resigned. Employees were informed of the changes via email on March 11. Centerstone has appointed Jeremy Watson as interim chief executive officer for the Florida market. Chris Hendricks and Lora Leslie DeMoss will serve as interim chief operating officers overseeing hospital and outpatient operations, respectively. "Centerstone remains focused on providing high-quality behavioral health services to the individuals and communities we serve," Lambert said in a statement. "All programs and services continue to operate as normal." Centerstone of Florida employs 450 people and serves 17,000 patients in Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, LaBelle and Arcadia. Centerstone receives tens of millions of dollars each year from state and county taxpayers, local nonprofit foundations and philanthropists such as Hugh Culverhouse Jr. In the past, Centerstone has counted incoming Florida Senate President Jim Boyd as a strong funding advocate in Tallahassee. Boyd has not responded to inquiries seeking comment about Centerstone. The Florida Department of Children and Families is a major financial source for Centerstone. In five years between 2020 and 2024, a contract shows, Centerstone received $91,672,021 in taxpayer money that came from DCF through a middle entity called Central Florida Behavioral Health Network. In the five years prior, Centerstone was allocated $49,429,907. What did the Herald-Tribune investigation reveal about Centerstone of Florida? According to the Herald-Tribune investigation, a Bradenton man named Thomas Matejcek was arrested for killing his mother, Patricia Matejcek, and her boyfriend, Sean Harrison, Sr. in 2023. Matejcek had a history of mental illness, substance abuse and violent crime. He had been in jail for assaulting his mother and her boyfriend but was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. Matejcek was assigned by a judge to receive competency restoration treatment from Centerstone. The judge also agreed that Matejcek should reside at the Mary Jennings Group Home in Bradenton during his restoration process. No one seemed aware, however, that 80-year-old Mary Jennings did not have a state license to operate the home, which is a third-degree felony in Florida, nor was Jennings' criminal background checked and taken into consideration. Jennings - who has no training in the mental health field - has been convicted of sale and possession of cocaine and welfare fraud in the past, according to Manatee County court records. She also has been in bankruptcy four times, faced foreclosure 10 times, had her driver's license suspended for a decade, and settled a lawsuit in which she was accused of notarizing an unsigned corrective deed in a real estate transaction. In addition, the Bradenton Police Department and EMS workers were called to Jennings' home more than 100 times since 2021 for a variety of incidents, including suicide attempts and drug overdose deaths. Jennings received help at the home from her son, Calvin Moore, who served roughly 20 years in federal prison during two different stints for sale and possession of cocaine. On Oct. 25, 2023, Centerstone forensics manager Tabitha Hammersmith picked Matejcek up from jail and drove him to Jennings' house. After Jennings gave him $15 for cigarettes, he said he was going to walk to the store. After 15 minutes he was gone. He never came back, and Jennings never reported it. It wasn't until five days later - when Hammersmith called Jennings because Matejcek had missed a medication management appointment at Centerstone - that Hammersmith was told Matejcek was missing. Again, nothing was done, and Matejcek was not found until Nov. 10, 2023, after he had killed his mother and her boyfriend. Originally a death penalty case, Matejcek's trial is set to begin on Monday, April 6. He has elected to bypass a jury trial in favor of a bench trial, which means 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Frederick Mercurio will weigh the evidence, declare a verdict and announce a sentence, if one is necessary. It was not the first time Centerstone lost track of a killer, according to the Herald-Tribune investigation. In 2018, a schizophrenic gang member named Tyrone Burns was deemed incompetent to stand trial and was placed in the care of Centerstone by a judge in Manatee County. Burns was allowed to live with his father in Lakeland while undergoing treatment. Burns left his father's house, traveled to Vidalia, Ga., and killed the 31-year-old single mother of a 7-year-old boy in a men's clothing store. Centerstone was not aware Burns had left Florida until he had been in jail for the crime for a year. Centerstone settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the decedent's mother for $6 million. What else did the Herald-Tribune investigation reveal about Centerstone of Florida? The investigation also revealed that Mary Jennings hosted Centerstone clients at her unlicensed home for years and made substantial money while doing so. All at taxpayer expense. Tax records show that Centerstone paid Jennings nearly $300,000 in 2023 and 2024 to house clients. Those were the only two years that Jennings was listed on Centerstone's tax records. Hammersmith said in a deposition that money from a federal grant was used to pay her. The grant was worth $2 million over five years, and Centerstone received $400,000 a year. The grant expired in 2025. During the same years, Centerstone also paid a Miami Beach real estate agency nearly $400,000 for "property management," which is the same term used to describe Jennings' bed rental service. In a deposition obtained by the Herald-Tribune, Centerstone therapist Melinda Bissell stated: "We knew it was unlicensed." What has been the fallout from the Herald-Tribune investigation? Jennings recently told the Herald-Tribune that she is no longer operating, though she did not say who shut her down. She blamed the newspaper's reporting. According to court records, it appears a settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Centerstone by the estates of Patricia Matejcek and Sean Harrison, Sr. The settlement has not been officially announced. Also, Manatee County Commissioner Amanda Ballard is attempting to form a task force to get a handle on the number of group homes in the area - unlicensed and legitimate - in addition to implementing some type of local guidelines. She has spoken to the public defender's office, the state attorney's office and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, among others. Chris Anderson can be reached at [email protected]. Please support local journalism by subscribing. 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Centerstone receives $750,000 veteran suicide prevention grant. * BY BRANDYN WILCOXEN [email protected] * 9 hrs ago * The Southern File The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant program is awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, which works with grants to help connect veterans to care. * The Southern File In Illinois, the veteran suicide rate in 2023 was 25.6 per 100,000 veterans, far exceeding the state and national averages for the general population. That's why suicide prevention plays a prominent role in veteran healthcare. Centerstone has been awarded the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant from the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The grant provides $750,000 to help engage veterans in suicide prevention services and connect them to earned VA healthcare and benefits. Services will be available to eligible veterans throughout Southern Illinois, as well as in the Metro East and St. Louis metro area. They will also be available to active-duty members, National Guard, reserves and veteran family members. Centerstone will work closely with the VA as part of the grant and will have the opportunity to renew it for two additional years. Funds will focus on proactive outreach, screening and care navigation to ensure veterans are identified, supported and successfully linked to VA services and community-based care. The program is designed to reduce barriers to access and ensure veterans enroll in and utilize benefits and behavioral health services available to them. Jeff Julian is the team lead for the grant program at Centerstone Military Services and a Marine Corps veteran. He said the program works as a sort of partnership between Centerstone and the VA. While the VA focuses on the clinical side of mental healthcare, Centerstone can hone in on other elements that may be affecting a veteran's mental health. "It allows us to provide peer-support services, community education on suicide prevention, and in certain instances it's going to allow us to make direct payments to third parties for things like childcare, food assistance, legal services, those kinds of day-to-day stressors," Julian said. The program, Julian said, allows for a more individualized approach to each case, knowing that everyone's experience and what works best for them is different. "People don't want to be pigeonholed into a plan that worked for somebody else," Julian said. "This grant lets us explore what really works best for the veteran, and it's going to be a collaborative process." While the program is a partnership between the two organizations, Julian said the decision to get care through the VA is still up to the individual. "We're never going to turn someone away if they say they don't want to engage with the VA," Julian said. "We want to help in any way we can, and we're going to find some other option that works for that veteran." Leading a team made up mostly of veterans and family members of veterans, Julian said having that similarity from case management to client is important in bridging gaps that some may experience. "We have that lived experience that I think might help us connect and really understand some of the issues that other veterans are going through," Julian said. "Fortunately, we're in a position where we can help that person and they don't have to do through it alone."