Antjuan Sanders.
This nog would have gotten away with it if he’d simply left her house after killing her and never returned.
But since he’s black, he just had to return and steal something.
A Pensacola teenager convicted of murdering a woman during a botched burglary has been sentenced to life in prison.
In September, a jury found Antjuan Sanders, 19, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2017 death of 58-year-old Susan Midyett. Jurors heard evidence that Sanders broke into Midyett’s home thinking she was away, then strangled her to cover up his crime.
Typically, a first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence. However, because Sanders was 17 at the time of the offense, Florida law required that he receive a customized sentence that accounted for his specific criminal history, life circumstances, maturity level and other factors.
After reviewing the facts of the case, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Burns on Wednesday sentenced Sanders to life in state prison. Because Sanders was a juvenile at the time of the crime, he is entitled to a review of his sentence after 25 years.
Investigators said that Sanders lived a few streets over from Midyett’s home on Statler Avenue, and that he had monitored and burglarized the homes of other women in the neighborhood.
At his trial, Sanders said he had gone into Midyett’s home thinking it was empty, then panicked when he encountered Midyett inside. He admitted to killing Midyett, but said the crime was not premeditated.
After the killing, Sanders left the scene undetected, and initially investigators believed Midyett had died of complications from a preexisting medical condition. However, family members contacted law enforcement again when they noticed someone had reentered the home and robbed it. DNA evidence eventually led investigators to Sanders.
Sanders was initially arrested on charges of burglary and aggravated battery, but the state only moved forward with the murder charges.
Susan Midyett.