Kent Stermon Bio – Kent Stermon Wiki
Kent Stermon was a Florida businessman who had ties to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was found dead in Mayport, near Jacksonville, on December 8, 2022, WJAX reports.
AGE:
Kent Stermon was 50 years old.
DETAIL OF INCIDENCE:
Florida Politics.com described Stermon as “one of the most connected political figures in Northeast Florida.”
Stermon died by suicide, the Atlantic Beach Police Department told First Coast News., which referred to him as a “prominent local political donor.”
According to ActionNewsJax, Stermon “was found dead in a vehicle outside the U.S. Post Office in Atlantic Beach.”
His body was discovered around 8 p.m. on December 8, 2022, on Mayport Road “when an employee leaving the post office discovered a man alone in a locked vehicle,” the site reported.
He had been reported missing, the death was considered a suicide, and no foul play was suspected, ActionNewsJax reported.
Stermon was president of a company that “enables Department of Defense transportation service providers to better serve the military marketplace,” according to its LinkedIn page.
According to News4Jax, Stermon was under an active investigation for “sexual misconduct” accusations when he died. The details of those allegations are not known.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told the television station that the Stermon investigation was an “active investigation” and began “a few weeks before his death.”
“This investigation remains ongoing at this time and will continue until its completion. As with all active investigations, there is limited information available to release at this time. However, as soon as this investigation has been completed, all applicable information will be available for release to the public,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told News4JAX.
According to News4JAX, “The I-TEAM has since confirmed that Stermon, who was not employed by the Sheriff’s Office, was given an access card to JSO headquarters for the past five years — at the same time, he was donating thousands to GOP candidates, including former Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams. According to a log from JSO obtained by the I-TEAM, Stermon’s access card stopped being used just a few weeks before his death.”
The news station reported that Stermon swiped into the sheriff’s office hundreds of times between 2017 and November 15, 2022, including 87 times in 2022. He accessed the office during the tenure of Sheriff Mike Williams and interim Sheriff Pat Ivey, the news station reported, but did not enter the building using an access card under current Waters, who was sworn in as sheriff on November 10, 2022, WJAX reports.
According to Florida Politics, Stermon had been dealing with health issues. Just hours before his death, he told the site that he had suffered a stroke that week.
However, Florida Politics reported that Stermon was “upbeat.”
“I am stepping about as far from politics as I can right now,” Stermon texted to the site. “My prognosis is positive and I just got discharged from the hospital, but I have a ton of work to do to get healthy.”
First Coast News reported that Stermon was close to law enforcement agencies in Florida, being named citizen of the year by several.
Florida Politics wrote that Stermon had deep ties to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other state and local GOP politicians.
“Stermon had a unique role in regional politics, making connections, particularly for Ron DeSantis’ once-unlikely path to the 2018 Republican nomination for Governor,” the site wrote.
Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communications director, gave the site this statement from DeSantis:
“The Governor and First Lady were shocked and saddened to hear of Kent’s passing, and their prayers (and our entire office’s prayers) are with his family during this difficult time.”
According to Florida Politics, Stermon “rented a home to DeSantis while he was in Congress” and “helped build a bridge to the Northeast Florida establishment in both fundraising and endorsements.”