After a three-day trial ended last week, a Volusia County jury found Young Guns defendant Armonta Waters guilty as charged of First-Degree Felony Murder and Robbery with a Firearm for shooting and killing a Central Florida 18-year-old.
Immediately following the verdict, the defendant was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison.
On September 18, 2020, Waters, who was only 20 years old at the time, showed up at the victim’s Daytona Beach apartment with his three co-defendants intending to rob the victim’s boyfriend. Waters’ co-defendant Jaquez Head jumped the victim’s boyfriend inside the apartment and a fight broke out. As the fighting went on, Waters’ co-defendant Jordan Graham shot and killed the 18-year-old victim.
Florida allows in certain situations that someone can be convicted of murder for just being involved in a felony that results in the death of another. This is called Felony Murder. Felony Murder is codified in Florida Statute Section 782.04(1)(a)(2) and occurs when a perpetrator or one of his accomplices kills another while engaged in the commission of or attempting the commission of, a statutorily enumerated felony, regardless of whether the perpetrator or his accomplices intended to kill the victim.
“We will continue to seek maximum penalties for deadly Young Guns violence,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “Justice and public safety demand it.”
The case was investigated by the Daytona Beach Police Department. Assistant State Attorneys Sarah Thomas and Sandy Desrosiers successfully tried the case for the state. The Honorable Raul Zambrano presided over the case and pronounced sentence.
Waters’ co-defendant Head was found guilty of First-Degree Felony Murder last year and was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison in January. Graham pled guilty to Second-Degree Murder (Firearm with Discharge) and Robbery with a Firearm in February and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in April.
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