Lonna Lauramore has been a woman of few words since her 21-month-old son, Lonzie Barton, went missing on July 24. Now, secret recordings give new insight on her lifestyle.
Lauramore was arrested Tuesday night and charged with child neglect and giving false information to police. She had her first court appearance Wednesday.
Our sister station Action News Jax obtained the 11-minute recording of an alleged conversation Lauramore had with a friend more than a week after the search for her son started.
The couple behind the secret recordings are David and Brittney Pembelton. David is a longtime friend of Chris Barton, who is Lonzie’s father. David’s wife Brittney worked with Lonna at Wacko’s strip club. The conversation allegedly took place between Lonna and Brittney while on a drive.
The recording begins with a woman who friends say is Lonna Lauramore talking about her drug of choice: cocaine.
“I don’t buy it, I don’t sell it but I do do it occasionally. If it’s there, I’m not going to pay for it. But if someone offers it to me, then I’ll do it."
Police said Lauramore has admitted to doing cocaine.
The conversation eventually turned to the search for her missing son and JSO’s prime suspect in his disappearance, Ruben Ebron. Lauramore is allegedly on tape saying what she thinks Ebron did with Lonzie.
“Like he freaked out ... like something happened to the baby and he freaked out. And you put him somewhere, but where? I don’t think it’s somewhere cold-hearted. You know what I mean? Like a river, in a dumpster … I don’t think he would be able to mentally walk away from him like that."
During the recording the friend asks if Lauramore searched for her son. They claim this is her answer:
“Just backtracked like roads and sh**. You know what I mean? We didn’t get in the woods and look. Because it was I don’t know what time a.m that we decided to go do this with a bottle of Fireball. Somehow that led to 120 and a cop and a couch I did not know about."
Friends say Lauramore goes on to say the searching was fun and that the goal was to get wasted.
Friends say Lauramore is also recorded saying she maintained intimate relationships with both husband Chris Barton and boyfriend Ruben Ebron at the same time.
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