Lonna Barton: Fake Abduction, Guilty Plea, and Release

Lonna Lauramore Barton is the Jacksonville, Florida, mother who pleaded guilty to child neglect and lying to police after her 21-month-old son, Lonzie Barton, died in July 2015 while in the care of her boyfriend, William “Ruben” Ebron Jr. She served nearly a decade in prison on that conviction and a separate drug case, and was released from the Baker County Detention Facility at midnight on November 26, 2025.¹

What Happened to Lonzie Barton

On the evening of July 23, 2015, Barton left Lonzie and her five-year-old daughter with Ebron at the Ravenwood Apartments on Old Kings Road in Jacksonville’s Baymeadows area and went to work. Earlier that day, she and Ebron had argued over the toddler’s condition: he had a bruise on the back of his head, was vomiting, and had yellow fluid leaking from his ears.²

Prosecutors said Lonzie drowned in a bathtub after Ebron and Barton locked him in a room while they were having sex.³ Ebron later told investigators he panicked after finding the child dead, drove the body to a wooded area off Philips Highway, and then invented an abduction story. Shortly after 2:20 a.m. on July 24, he called police and reported that his car had been stolen with Lonzie and the five-year-old inside. Officers found the Honda Civic abandoned less than a mile away about fifteen minutes later. The five-year-old was unharmed. Lonzie was not in the car.⁴

Surveillance footage soon contradicted Ebron’s account, showing him sprinting toward the apartment complex about ten minutes before his 911 call. On August 3, 2015, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office declared the case a homicide, canceled the Amber Alert, and charged Ebron with child neglect.²

Her Arrest and Guilty Plea

Lonna Barton was arrested on August 18, 2015, on charges of child neglect and giving false information to police. Investigators said she had repeatedly lied to detectives during the search. She initially denied knowing Ebron, then admitted he was her boyfriend. She was also untruthful about her job and where she lived.⁵ Police alleged she had never told investigators about the bruise on Lonzie’s head or the fluid leaking from his ears before leaving him with Ebron.⁶ She faced two counts of child neglect for keeping illegal drugs in a drawer accessible to both children.

On January 6, 2016, Barton pleaded guilty in Duval County Circuit Court to child neglect, a third-degree felony, and lying to a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor. She waived her Fifth Amendment rights and agreed to testify truthfully against Ebron if called.⁷ At a pre-trial hearing she testified that Ebron sold drugs “every day she was with him, including when her children were around.”⁸

Five days after her plea, on January 11, 2016, Ebron led investigators to a wooded dead end on Snyder Street near Florida 9B in the Bayard area, about eight miles south of the apartments. Lonzie’s skeletal remains were recovered in eleven brown paper bags.⁹ Attorney Randy Reep said Barton’s cooperation drove the breakthrough: “It was her coming forward and taking responsibility that had the cascade effect of bringing the child home and resolving these cases.”⁸

Twelve Years From Two Cases

Barton received five years in prison for the child neglect conviction. Her total sentence grew because of a separate case out of Baker County. On September 16, 2015, while Lonzie was still missing and on the same evening as a custody hearing for her daughter, she and Lonzie’s biological father, Christopher Barton, were caught in an undercover drug deal at a Baker County motel.¹⁰

She pleaded guilty in Baker County to multiple charges involving the sale of “Molly,” a synthetic drug, within 1,000 feet of a specific location. Circuit Judge James Colaw sentenced her to seven years and ordered that term to run consecutively to the five-year neglect sentence, for twelve years total. She also faced up to 60 years if she violated probation conditions, which included drug abuse counseling.¹¹ Christopher Barton separately pleaded guilty and received a three-year sentence on the drug charges plus 38 days for a battery charge in jail.¹⁰

Where Ruben Ebron’s Case Stands

On February 5, 2016, Ebron pleaded guilty before Circuit Judge Mark Borello to aggravated manslaughter, child neglect, tampering with evidence, and lying to police.³ He received 20 years without parole for aggravated manslaughter, with concurrent sentences of five years each for child neglect and evidence tampering and one year for lying to police.¹² State Attorney Angela Corey said the inability to pinpoint a cause of death, because of the advanced decomposition of the remains, was a primary factor in accepting a plea rather than pursuing a murder trial.⁹ According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Ebron’s release date is set for September 28, 2037.¹³

Release and Current Status

Lonna Barton walked out of the Baker County Detention Facility at midnight on November 26, 2025. The Florida Department of Corrections says she remains on active supervision and probation.¹

Around the time of her release, Wanda Ebron, Ruben Ebron’s mother, spoke publicly. She recalled meeting Lonzie weeks before his death, describing him as “the cutest thing ever” with “little blonde hair, blue eyes, cowboy boots on.” She maintained that her son “never intended to harm Lonzie” and made “an awful decision to attempt to cover up the accidental death.” While acknowledging her son’s sentence might reasonably have been somewhat longer than Barton’s, she said “it should not have been 10 years longer.” She added that she held “no harsh feelings toward Lonzie’s mother.”¹

1
News4Jax. Mother of Lonzie Barton Released From Prison After Serving Time on Child Neglect, Drug Charges
2
Jacksonville.com. Timeline: The Disappearance and Death of Lonzie Barton
3
WJCT News. Ruben Ebron Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Lonzie Barton Case
4
Jacksonville.com. Amber Alert: Toddler Lonzie Barton Missing After Reported Car Theft
5
WJCT News. Lonzie Barton’s Mother Arrested for Child Neglect, Lying to Police
6
Jacksonville.com. Lonzie’s Mother Out of Jail
7
WJCT News. Missing Boy’s Mom Pleads Guilty, Will Testify in Ex-Boyfriend’s Trial
8
News4Jax. Sorting Truth From Fiction in Lonzie’s Death
9
News4Jax. Lonzie Barton Autopsy Report Released
10
News4Jax. Lonzie Barton Topic Page
11
Jacksonville.com. Lonzie Barton’s Mother Sentenced to 7 Years in Baker Drug Case, Will Serve 12
12
ClickOrlando. Ruben Ebron Pleads Guilty in Lonzie’s Death
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News4Jax. Mother of Man Charged in Death of Lonzie Barton Shares Memories as Boy’s Mother Gets Out of Prison