New State Attorney Andrew Bain to announce updates to office

The man appointed to be State Attorney for Orange and Osceola Counties plans to announce “updates” to the office’s policies Thursday morning. Andrew Bain had been a judge in Orange County before Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended elected State Attorney Monique Worrell and gave the job to Bain. Soon after he was installed in the office, Bain said he planned to review cases that had been dropped by Worrell’s administration, with a focus on murder, sex crime, and drug trafficking cases. He also announced a “Second Chance” program to address issues that lead to crime, such as poverty and homelessness. Bain also promised to replenish a “depleted staff,” and that appears to include hiring Ryan Williams as his Chief Assistant State Attorney. Williams is well-known in Central Florida for handling several major cases, including the prosecution of convicted killer Markeith Loyd. Williams led that case while working for the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Office, which covers Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties, but had been appointed to handle capital murder cases by then-Gov. Rick Scott because of former State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s stance on the death penalty. Williams also lost to Worrell in the 2020 Democratic primary election for State Attorney. Top headlines:Listen to news and weather headlines with the WESH 2 podcast’Like a crunch’: Surfer bitten in the face by shark at New Smyrna Beach speaks outPolice: Carjacker shot, killed innocent man outside Palm Bay 7-Eleven