TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A former Florida corrections deputy arrested in connection with the disappearance of 72-year-old Jessie Kirk is under a restraining order for allegedly stalking the missing woman’s niece last year, News4JAX’s sister station WKMG reported.
Kirk was reported missing Tuesday after she failed to show up for a morning walk with a friend, police said.
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Authorities later found Kirk’s vehicle set on fire in a wooded area of Orange County nearly 20 miles from her condo.
Police arrested David Armstrong Barber, 35, on charges of loitering and grand theft auto after investigators said they found him lurking near Kirk’s condo with first and second degree burns on his arms. Barber, 35, was booked at the jail Wednesday morning. For the time being, Titusville police said they’ve arrested Barber for stealing Kirk’s car and then for loitering at an apartment building across the street from her condo on US-1.
Barber previously dated the missing woman’s niece and is currently facing separate criminal charges for allegedly attempting to burglarize the ex-girlfriend’s former home, court records show.
News 6 is not identifying Barber’s ex-girlfriend by name since she claims to be a victim of stalking and revenge porn.
Barber’s ex-girlfriend sought a restraining order in November after she said Barber repeatedly ignored a letter from her attorney demanding him to stop all contact and harassing behavior.
According to a petition filed in Orange County Circuit Court, the woman said she moved out of the Brevard County apartment she shared with Barber in June and ended their three-year relationship because he was posting sexually explicit photos of her on a pornographic website without consent.
The ex-girlfriend’s attorney sent Barber a “cease and desist” notice on July 17 demanding he delete the images and stop contacting the woman and her family, court records show.
The next day Barber reportedly sent an email to the woman’s attorney acknowledging that he had received the request.
But according to the woman’s petition for a restraining order, the following evening Barber was captured on surveillance video placing something underneath her car parked outside her new home in Orange County. Police later located a wire attached to a tire mounting rod, the woman stated.
“Please give me a chance to start over. Let me win your love and trust back,” Barber reportedly wrote in an email sent to the woman’s attorney about a week later. “Please don’t let your fear get the better of you. Please don’t run away from this relationship. I know I have caused you pain. Please forgive me.”
Barber returned to his ex-girlfriend’s new home at least four times in mid-November, she alleged in a court filing. Surveillance videos reportedly showed him rummaging through her garbage with gloves on, hiding next to her car late at night, and crawling underneath her vehicle.
“I am terrified of his actions and fearful he is trying to sabotage my vehicle or follow me to an unsafe location and attack or kill me,” the woman wrote in her petition.
A judge issued a temporary injunction against Barber in November that prohibited him from having contact with his ex-girlfriend. The injunction was extended in January, court records show, and a hearing on the restraining order was scheduled for later this month.
On Dec. 4, weeks after Barber was reportedly seen at his ex-girlfriend’s Orange County home, a new tenant who had recently moved into the couple’s former Brevard County apartment contacted Rockledge police to report a suspicious incident.
Video footage from the tenant’s Ring doorbell camera showed a man police identified as Barber sneaking towards her front door and placing black electrical tape over the camera lens.
Two weeks later, Barber was caught on camera returning to his former Rockledge apartment and attempting to unlock the door with a key, police records show.
Investigators could not determine if Barber entered his old apartment since the doorbell camera recording ended early, according to a report.
Authorities arrested Barber Dec. 22 on charges of attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools. He was released from custody the same day on a $20,000 bond to await trial, court records indicate.
Court records related to Barber’s attempted burglary arrest and stalking injunction do not specifically mention Kirk, his ex-girlfriend’s aunt.
Titusville police say a man matching Barber’s description was seen on surveillance cameras driving Kirk’s white Lincoln Navigator the day she was reported missing.
Barber was employed by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections deputy from January 2018, until he voluntarily resigned in January 2022. He received no formal discipline during his time at the agency, a spokesperson said.