MIAMI (WSVN) - Two South Florida men learned their fate in a 13-year murder investigation after they took a plea deal.
In court Wednesday, Reginald Lewis Jackson and Roderick Martin both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a lesser charge than what they were initially facing: the death penalty.
The defendants stood trial for the murders of 69-year-old Annette Anderson and Tyrone Walker Jr., her 20-year-old grandson, who were found tied up and shot execution-style in Miami Gardens on July 16, 2013.
Anderson was a minister at Jesus People Ministries in Miami Gardens, and her violent death shook an entire community.
Investigators said the defendants’ motive was robbery. Police would later arrest them for the killings.
Jackson was sentenced to 40 years in prison, and Martin was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
When the defendants asked if they wanted to speak in court, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ellen Sue Venzer asked both defendants one question: “Why?”
Jackson and Martin declined to speak.
Jackson’s attorney, Jimmy Della Fera, explained the decision, citing his client’s behavior in court Tuesday, when he reportedly stormed out of court after rejecting a plea deal.
“I didn’t think that it would be a very good idea to go there, because clearly, if questions were going to be asked, everyone saw what happened the other day, and I didn’t want there to be another outbreak in the middle of the courtroom,” said Della Fera.
Jackson apparently became upset because his family was not able to be in the courtroom and refused to participate in the proceedings.
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