By Terry Witt -Spotlight Senior Reporter
Levy County Commissioner Mike Joyner, whose homespun sayings in board meetings and legendary career in law enforcement as an undercover officer brought him statewide respect, passed away Wednesday morning.
“I hate it for his family. He loved his family and they loved him. It’s going to leave a huge void going forward,” said County Commission Chairman John Meeks.
No decision has been made on who will replace Joyner on the board. The standard procedure is for the governor to choose someone from a list of applicants, but Meeks said replacing Joyner is the farthest thing from his mind at this point.
Commissioners, staff, and members of the public gathered in a prayer circle before the start of Tuesday’s county commission meeting at Meeks’ request. Meeks had mentioned that Joyner was hospitalized. Prayers were said for Joyner and other members of the community who were sick or had lost loved ones.
Meeks said he already misses his close friend.
“Personally I’m a little bit selfish in that I want my friend back, but I know he is in a better place. He’s not suffering and there’s no pain. I guess that’s how we got to approach this as a Christian,” Meeks said. “All his life from his first job, he was a servant first. He was a man of God and that combination made him a very special human being and one of my best friends. That’s what hurts so much.”
Sheriff Bobby McCallum, who has known Joyner for 40 years or more, said law enforcement lost a friend when Joyner passed away.
“His love and first love was law enforcement; all the things he did over many years in law enforcement. He was a Christian man. You always knew where he stood. He was blunt and he would let you know where he stood on an issue or anything,” McCallum said. “He was supportive of us and me as sheriff and the sheriff’s office. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
“He actually worked for us when I was chief deputy. He’s got a lot of history around the state. He’s done a lot of undercover work and everything else along with working with sheriff’s offices and counties around the state. He will truly be missed. My thoughts are definitely with Diane and his son and daughter and all his family. He will be sorely missed.”
Joyner’s best-known investigation led to the arrest of Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer. She murdered seven men, shooting them at point-blank range. Joyner worked with a task force that hunted Wuornos. Joyner went undercover and managed to meet Wuornos in a Daytona Beach biker bar. He walked with her out of the bar and into an ambush set up by task force detectives. She was imprisoned and later executed on death row.
McCallum said Joyner had various abilities and assets that law enforcement utilized in its investigations. He said the Aileen Wuornos case was his most famous case.
“He’s well respected and well thought of and he was a truly dedicated law enforcement professional,” McCallum said. “He’s always been a spokesman for his district and the entire county. As a Board of County Commissioner, he was very supportive of us and the sheriff’s office and what we were trying to accomplish. He worked in our drug task force way back and as a civil deputy for us later when he came back part-time.”
Meeks said he really got to know Joyner when he would drive to his farm home to pick him up for trips to regional planning council meetings. Joyner told him harrowing tales about his life as an undercover officer including times when he went undercover in prisons and jails to bring bad guys to justice.
“Some of the situations he was in were truly remarkable. Just the fact that he volunteered; he was never asked to do these assignments. He volunteered to do every one of them, put his life at risk, and separated himself from his family,” Meeks said.
Joyner revealed some of his undercover exploits to Meeks.
On one undercover assignment, while living behind bars in a prison, Meeks said Joyner was in fear of being stabbed to death as he slept in his cell.
“He would literally sleep on the box springs of the mattress with the mattress over him for fear that someone might come in at night and shank him in his bed. That’s the kind of stuff this guy put himself through to try to get bad people off the street,” Meeks said.
Meeks said Joyner slept on a beach in Florida for several weeks as part of one undercover investigation. Whenever Meeks was planning a vacation in Key West, he said Joyner would warn him to stay away from one particular beach, saying, “Ain’t nothin’ down there but druggies, bums, and murderers.”
“He slept on the beach in Key West with nothing but a newspaper to cover up while trying to catch a serial killer. I mean the crazy, crazy things he put himself through,” Meeks said.
“He was the undersheriff in Jefferson County. There was a crash in a very remote area of the county. He walked in this swamp and located the plane, got the pilot, and carried him back out in January or February – 17 to 21-degree temperatures, something like that – he waded through the swamp and drug this person back to safety,” Meeks added.
“Even in his commission days, a lot of his work, he didn’t look for praise. He didn’t brag. He just went and got the job done whether it was in his district or really anywhere in the county that had a problem. He worked to find a solution and he didn’t come to the board and say I took care of this culvert problem or I took care of this road issue. He just rolled up his sleeves and went to work. That was his mentality.”
Meeks pledged to carry out Joyner’s legacy, “as best I can.”
County Coordinator Wilbur Dean said Joyner was always concerned when a complaint was received at the commission office.
“He made sure we took care of the people. He did his best to make sure we had a conservative and tight ship,” Dean said
Dean said Joyner’s character, and who he was as a person, set him apart.
“What he represented meant a lot, not just as a commissioner but his years in law enforcement and his dedication,” Dean said. “He gave of himself a lot.”
Dean said Joyner was aware he could never make up for the time he lost when he wasn’t able to be with his family.
“He’s just a dedicated public servant; just his stand on Christianity. As a Christian, he was very concerned about others and he wanted them to have what he had,” Dean said.
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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt August 4, 2021; Posted August 4, 2021
