A New Downtown Storytelling Experience Coming to Pensacola
For more than thirty years, I worked the streets of Pensacola as a police officer, eventually retiring as a sergeant. During that time, I investigated crimes, including homicides, in neighborhoods and on streets that many of us still walk every day.
But some of the most fascinating murder stories in our city happened long before I ever pinned on a badge.
Since 1995, I have been collecting police historical documents, artifacts, photographs, and old newspapers from across the Deep South — especially here in Pensacola. Over the years, those archives have revealed remarkable true stories of crime, justice, and the people who lived through them.
Beginning in 2020, I started writing about those stories — the officers, the investigations, and the murders that once shocked communities along the Gulf Coast.
Recently, I brought those stories together under a new name:
Sweet Tea Murders.
Because in the South, the tea may be sweet…
but the stories rarely are.
A New Kind of Storytelling Event
I am excited to announce that later this Spring, I will begin hosting a new monthly storytelling series in downtown Pensacola called:
Sweet Tea Murders Live Stories
Each month, guests will gather for an intimate evening where I will tell the fascinating true story of a historic Pensacola murder — some well known, others nearly forgotten.
These will not be lectures.
And they will not be sensationalized or gruesome presentations.
Instead, these evenings will be immersive storytelling experiences where history, crime investigation, and local culture come together.
Guests will hear the full story — the people involved, the setting, the investigation, and the lasting impact on the community.
Because as a former homicide investigator, I can offer something unique:
a detective’s perspective on crimes that happened generations before.
Many of the locations involved in these stories still exist today. In fact, I have personally walked some of the very streets where these events unfolded.
Sweet Tea and Southern Storytelling
To set the tone for the evening, each guest will be welcomed with a mason jar of traditional Southern sweet tea — a small reminder of the kind of front-porch storytelling that has long been part of Southern culture.
The goal is simple: To create an evening where people can sit back, listen, and step into the past. Where the streets of old Pensacola come alive again through the voices, crimes, and mysteries that shaped this city. Seating will be limited, allowing the experience to remain personal and engaging.
Coming Soon
Additional details — including dates, locations, and ticket availability — will be announced soon.
If you enjoy history, true crime, and the rich stories of the Gulf Coast, I believe you will find these evenings both fascinating and memorable.
Until then, keep an eye out for further announcements.
And remember:
In the South, the tea is sweet…but the murders aren’t.
Michael Earl Simmons
Police Historian | Author | Storyteller
Creator of Sweet Tea Murders