Cars were quickly leaving the scene when deputies responded to a call about an injured man at a spot in the woods off Old Allenton Road in Bay County around 2 a.m. Saturday.
A deputy was flagged down by a driver heading toward Hwy. 22 and told, “You need to hurry…it’s bad down there,” according to the incident report from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arrived to find Jackie McClendon on the ground. He was dead.
Although most at the scene had left, several young party-goers were still there, along with McClendon’s injured stepson, Danny Mayo, 27, of Youngstown – who was laying over McClendon’s body – and their friend, Thomas Scott Parker, 42, of Panama City. Both men had serious injuries. Mayo suffered blunt force trauma injuries to his head and face after “he was beaten up by a couple of guys,” according to Capt. Jimmy Stanford of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Parker was knocked out.
McClendon’s cause of death was a ruptured artery in his neck, according to Stanford. He said he did not know if it was the result of him being hit or kicked. “When he was struck, it caused his head to swivel very quickly,” Stanford said. He added, “He would have died quickly. His injuries were more internal.”
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“Just about everybody fled the area so we spent the weekend tracking down all the witnesses and getting statements,” Stanford said.
Deputies spoke with one witness and one of the victims, Danny Mayo, at the scene.
Mayo, whose face was bleeding as he talked with a deputy, said that “two guys” had hit him and his father. Mayo and the witness identified the two as Jay Green, 21, of Youngstown, and Chad Mercer, 18, of Panama City.
The witness said Green punched Mayo in the face first and then punched McClendon in the face. McClendon fell to the ground. Mercer walked up to the unconscious man and kicked him in the head. According to the witness, Green bragged about the knock-out punch and said, “That is a one hitter quitter. I did that.”
After the witness checked on McClendon and discovered he was not breathing, Green and Mercer fled.
Deputies caught up with Green around 2:31 a.m. at Hwy. 22 and Nell Street. He was riding in a truck with two other people.
Mercer later turned himself in to authorities after reading on social media that he was being sought.
“The night we interviewed them, they didn’t realize he passed away,” said BCSO Investigator Craig Romans. He said Green was “very upset” while Mercer showed no emotion over McClendon’s death.
The sheriff’s office has had previous dealings with the two suspects. Romans said Green has been arrested in the past for marijuana possession, theft and theft of a firearm. While this is Mercer’s first arrest, the investigator indicated his office was familiar with him.
Green and Mercer are being held on an open count of homicide and second degree murder.
Romans said his office is awaiting a juvenile pickup order to arrest two 17-year-old boys for felony battery and aggravated battery. One reportedly struck Mayo with a beer bottle as well as his fists. The other youth is believed to have struck Parker.
McClendon, his stepson and their friend had been mud riding on their four-wheelers when they saw the bonfire and came up on the late-night party, which included mostly teenagers.
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McClendon’s daughter and ex-wife, Michele McClendon, of Deltona, finalized arrangements for his funeral Tuesday.
He grew up in Calhoun County and is survived by several siblings, including one in Altha and three in Blountstown.