A Young Guns defendant was sentenced for murder and robbery in Central Florida.
During a recent hearing, Young Guns defendant Zachariah Sanders was sentenced to 50 years in jail. Earlier this month, he entered a plea of no contest to charges of second-degree murder (firearm), robbery with a firearm, and tampering with physical evidence.
On March 19, 2020, officers from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded to a car fire in DeLand. A victim was discovered dead in the driver’s seat. The medical examiner determined that the victim died of gunshot wounds to the neck and head, not burn injuries.
Almost a month later, Sanders’ co-defendants Cameron Lane and Fredryonna Grimes were shot in a separate incident in DeLand. They were apprehended by the DeLand Police Department and charged with attempted first-degree murder. They were each sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.
On May 20, 2020, a witness who was a passenger in the first victim’s vehicle on the morning of his murder came forward to VSO investigators. He told them that he witnessed Sanders and his two co-defendants shooting the victim and then searching the vehicle’s trunk. Physical evidence, which remained undisclosed, supported the witnesses’ descriptions of the shooting.
On October 28, 2020, investigators gathered new evidence before indicting Sanders, Lane, and Grimes. Sanders was just 22 years old at the time of the murder.
“Another Young Guns defendant is off the streets. “Maybe the next twenty-something contemplating violence will take notice of this 50-year sentence,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza remarked of the case. “I believe that ridding our community of folks like the defendant creates an opportunity for better and safer days ahead.”
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Andrew Urbanak, Assistant State Attorney, successfully prosecuted the case for the state. The Honorable Kathleen McNeilly ruled over the case and delivered the sentence.
Grimes and Lane have both entered pleas in this case. Lane was sentenced to 48 years in prison, while Grimes received 40 years.
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