JACKSONVILLE, FL – Back in 2015, investigators and the public in the Jacksonville area were led on a ruse over what was portrayed as a missing persons case involving 21-month-old Lonzie Barton. However, months later authorities learned the disturbing truth that when the missing persons case was initially opened, the toddler they were searching for was already deceased, and now his mother who helped cover his death up has been released from prison.
On November 26th, Lonna Barton, who pleaded guilty to child neglect and drug charges in connection to her son’s 2015 death, was released from the Baker County Detention Facility after serving nearly a decade behind bars. The case that led to her incarceration was one that gripped the Jacksonville community and local law enforcement, as police were initially misled by Barton and her then-boyfriend, William Ebron, regarding her toddler, Lonzie.
Lonzie was first reported missing to police on July 24th, 2015, by Ebron. At the time, Ebron told authorities that his car had been stolen with the child inside at the time of the alleged robbery. Police would find Ebron’s vehicle roughly 20 minutes after the initial claim was made, but Lonzie was nowhere to be found.
A missing persons investigation was launched with an accompanying Amber Alert, with police and even some local community members volunteering to search for Lonzie. Later that same day, Ebron was taken into custody over simple child neglect charges as authorities were still operating on the alleged carjacking narrative. What police didn’t know at the time was that Lonzie was already deceased, having died two days earlier in a bathtub drowning incident.
It wasn’t until January of 2016 that police discovered Lonzie’s discarded body amid a wooded area along I-295, which Ebron led authorities to the site after accepting a plea deal in the case which landed him 20 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter of a child. Ebron had admitted to investigators that Lonzie had accidentally drowned while left unattended in a bathtub inside the couple’s home while he and Barton were being intimate in another room.
Barton would also accept a plea deal in the case regarding the role she played in misleading authorities, alongside charges of child neglect and separate drug charges which landed her 10 years in prison collectively.
Ebron’s mother, Wanda, spoke with local news outlet News4Jax following Barton’s release. While not excusing her son’s actions regarding lying to police and hiding Lonzie’s body posthumously, she still remains troubled at the fact that her son, who is not Lonzie’s biological father, was given a 20 year sentence in the toddler’s accidental death yet the child’s mother was only given 10 years behind bars.
“If he was the one who panicked and had to take the child and drop the child off, his sentence might have been a little bit longer,” Wanda Ebron stated, adding, “But it should not have been 10 years longer.”
Ebron’s current release date is scheduled for September 2037 according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
On November 26th, Lonna Barton, who pleaded guilty to child neglect and drug charges in connection to her son’s 2015 death, was released from the Baker County Detention Facility after serving nearly a decade behind bars. The case that led to her incarceration was one that gripped the Jacksonville community and local law enforcement, as police were initially misled by Barton and her then-boyfriend, William Ebron, regarding her toddler, Lonzie.
Lonzie was first reported missing to police on July 24th, 2015, by Ebron. At the time, Ebron told authorities that his car had been stolen with the child inside at the time of the alleged robbery. Police would find Ebron’s vehicle roughly 20 minutes after the initial claim was made, but Lonzie was nowhere to be found.
A missing persons investigation was launched with an accompanying Amber Alert, with police and even some local community members volunteering to search for Lonzie. Later that same day, Ebron was taken into custody over simple child neglect charges as authorities were still operating on the alleged carjacking narrative. What police didn’t know at the time was that Lonzie was already deceased, having died two days earlier in a bathtub drowning incident.
It wasn’t until January of 2016 that police discovered Lonzie’s discarded body amid a wooded area along I-295, which Ebron led authorities to the site after accepting a plea deal in the case which landed him 20 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter of a child. Ebron had admitted to investigators that Lonzie had accidentally drowned while left unattended in a bathtub inside the couple’s home while he and Barton were being intimate in another room.
Barton would also accept a plea deal in the case regarding the role she played in misleading authorities, alongside charges of child neglect and separate drug charges which landed her 10 years in prison collectively.
Ebron’s mother, Wanda, spoke with local news outlet News4Jax following Barton’s release. While not excusing her son’s actions regarding lying to police and hiding Lonzie’s body posthumously, she still remains troubled at the fact that her son, who is not Lonzie’s biological father, was given a 20 year sentence in the toddler’s accidental death yet the child’s mother was only given 10 years behind bars.
“If he was the one who panicked and had to take the child and drop the child off, his sentence might have been a little bit longer,” Wanda Ebron stated, adding, “But it should not have been 10 years longer.”
Ebron’s current release date is scheduled for September 2037 according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
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Comments
2025-12-04T14:02-0500 | Comment by: Mark
Both dirt bags should have got 30 years for killing that child. Replace ALL these judges that can't give proper sentences.