Cocoa homicide suspect used hammer to kill aunt, grandmother, warrant says

A Cocoa man accused in a double homicide admitted to investigators that he used a hammer to kill his aunt and grandmother, according to an arrest affidavit. Maxine Mills and her daughter, Holly Crossman, were killed Tuesday in the home the two shared just outside of Cocoa. Brevard County sheriff's deputies found their bodies after a man called 911 and told a dispatcher he hurt 84-year-old Mills and 61-year-old Crossman.Deputies said Marty Connell was arrested on murder charges Tuesday night. Connell is Mills' grandson and Crossman's nephew.Only WESH 2's cameras were there when deputies handcuffed Connell a few miles away from the home. Connell used to live in the home, but is now homeless, deputies say, though neighbors tell WESH 2 they'd see him visit often for meals and laundry. "I'm devastated. I'm saddened," neighbor and friend Cecelia Quillen said. Quillen said she sensed tension between the nephew and aunt before. "They didn't get along," she said. But she can't believe her friends are gone now in what deputies are calling domestic violence homicides. "It blows my mind, I just can't grasp what has happened," Quillen said. "(They're) two very nice, well-loved neighbors."Connell is the only suspect identified in the case. Deputies said the suspect had a history of domestic violence against his aunt, and that an injunction filed against him six years ago was still active.

A Cocoa man accused in a double homicide admitted to investigators that he used a hammer to kill his aunt and grandmother, according to an arrest affidavit.

Maxine Mills and her daughter, Holly Crossman, were killed Tuesday in the home the two shared just outside of Cocoa.


Brevard County sheriff's deputies found their bodies after a man called 911 and told a dispatcher he hurt 84-year-old Mills and 61-year-old Crossman.

Deputies said Marty Connell was arrested on murder charges Tuesday night. Connell is Mills' grandson and Crossman's nephew.

Only WESH 2's cameras were there when deputies handcuffed Connell a few miles away from the home.

Connell used to live in the home, but is now homeless, deputies say, though neighbors tell WESH 2 they'd see him visit often for meals and laundry.

"I'm devastated. I'm saddened," neighbor and friend Cecelia Quillen said.

Quillen said she sensed tension between the nephew and aunt before.

"They didn't get along," she said.

But she can't believe her friends are gone now in what deputies are calling domestic violence homicides.

"It blows my mind, I just can't grasp what has happened," Quillen said. "(They're) two very nice, well-loved neighbors."

Connell is the only suspect identified in the case.

Deputies said the suspect had a history of domestic violence against his aunt, and that an injunction filed against him six years ago was still active.