- December 16, 2025
Assistant State Attorneys Ben Fox and Ken Ulich credited DNA evidence as the key to convicting 22-year-old Jermaine Lovett of robbery with a firearm while wearing a mask, a first-degree felony, before a Flagler jury. Thursday, May 3, Circuit Judge Raul A. Zambrano sentenced Lovett to 13 years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation.
Lovett was found guilty as charged in March. On April 20, 2010, Fatiha Mubarak, the victim who is the store owner and cashier of Norah’s Food store in Bunnell, was robbed at gun point. The victim immediately reported the crime and stated she knew the suspect but she did not know his name.
Although he wore a black hood, bandana and black clothing, she recognized him by his physical appearance, mannerisms and voice. Mubarak also noticed some unusual markings on his fingernails. She described the bandana as black with white patterns.
Minutes later, the Bunnell Police Department recovered a black bandana with white patterns near the store, which was shown to the victim and identified as the one used in the robbery.
Shortly after Lovett was arrested, police obtained a search warrant to obtain DNA from Lovett and police at that time also noticed that he had unusual markings on his fingernails, particularly a distinctive dark stripe on his thumbnail.
DNA testing was later performed on the bandana found near the store, and it was determined that Lovett’s DNA was on the bandana.
