PALM COAST
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 6, NO. 43
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‘We’re going to be OK’ After losing their home to a fire and their father to an apparent suicide, the Claytons are grateful for their community.
HOW TO HELP Go Fund Me Go online to gofundme. com and search for “Amy Clayton and Boys” to donate money to the family. The account’s goal is $20,000.
EMILY BLACKWOOD AND JONATHAN SIMMONS
Furber’s Auto Event and Toy Drive Furber’s Auto Sales, located in Holly Hill, recently changed its annual charity event to help the Clayton family. Owner Brian Furber posted to the event’s Facebook page asking everyone to bring gift cards, toys for the boys and cash donations — stating that he would match any and all cash donations. Call or text Brian Furber at 8713185 to coordinate donations and drop-offs.
Miller Clayton, Luke Clayton and Kevin Lee Clayton Courtesy photo
“What he had learned in school helped him and his little brother escape, which is wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time.” JAMES MENARD, Imagine School principal, who has spoken with the family every day since the fire
It was the smell of smoke that woke up 7-year-old Miller Clayton the night of Nov. 28. The house that he shared with his parents and two brothers in western Flagler County was engulfed in flames, and his father, 41-year-old Kevin Lee Clayton, would later be found dead inside its burned-out frame. Miller, who’d recently had a fire safety lesson at the Imagine School at Town Center, in Palm Coast, woke up his 4-year-old brother, Luke. He put blankets over both of their heads as they crawled out of the house, then ran to a neighbor’s home for help. The boys had seen their father lying unconscious with a gun next to him, according to a Sheriff’s Office report, but they didn’t try to wake him because they were afraid of angering him. Investigators would later rule Kevin Lee Clayton’s death an apparent suicide. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. With rescuers on the way, a neighbor called the boys’ mother, Amy, who was out of town with her 14-year-old son. “She called me and said, ‘Amy, your house is on fire, and we can’t get Kevin out,’” Amy Clayton said. “I fell to the ground.” “He was always a great and lovSEE HOME PAGE 4
25 YEARS
FPC SOCCER, PAGE 15 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
INSIDE
HOMICIDE IN BUNNELL? The death of John Robert Stubbs is being investigated. His body was found the day after Thanksgiving, on the door step of his home in Bunnell. According to the Rev. Sims Jones, “He was a young man with a good head on his shoulders. He was trying to do something.” PAGE 9
FEET TO FEAST
Jessica Castillo was in the zone before the annual Feet to Feast 5K/15K, sponsored by the city of Palm Coast. Other runners were more festive. Would you believe some dressed like turkeys? PAGES 18,20
CHISHOLM DAY
Celebrating the life of a hero, from Palm Coast: “Shirley Chisholm had guts.” PAGE 3
IN THE SPIRIT
“I get so much already. Sharing with people who aren’t used to getting a lot — it’s exciting.” NIKOLENA PERRINE, 12 PAGE 2
FLAGLER TY
ARTS+CULTURE
If you build it, he will come
“No matter where we were born and raised; no matter how we worship; citizens of Palm Coast come together for this event every year to share peace and brotherhood.” MAYOR JON NETTS PAGE 3
Ty Pennington recently lent a hand — and a power drill — to a Flagler Habitat for Humanity project. Check out more photos and the story on PalmCoastObserver.com
CLINT BLACK IN ST. AUGUSTINE Check out all the shows from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach, in this month’s Arts and Culture Calendar. PAGES 18-19