Killer Gets Life Added To 150-Year Sentence

Fla. Time To Be Served After Mississippi Term

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A man convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a clerk at a St. Augustine gas station in 2001 was sentenced Friday to life in prison to be served after he completes the 150-year sentence he is currently serving in Mississippi.

Last week, Mark Aldridge, 51, pleaded no contest to charges he shot and killed 59-year-old Eva Lewis during a robbery of a BP station on Nov. 27, 2001.

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St. Augustine police said Aldridge confessed to the killing while being held in a Mississippi prison on unrelated charges.

Aldridge was an ex-convict at the time of the crime, having served time in Ohio for rape, sexual imposition, theft and aggravated burglary. Authorities said he was stationed in Jacksonville while in the military in the late 1970s and knew the area.

St. Augustine police Sgt. Barry Fox said Aldridge had knowledge of the crime that only someone who was there would know.

Police also tested a gun police confiscated from Aldridge in Kansas one week after the St. Augustine homicide and found it matched the one used to kill Lewis.

Lewis' family members spoke out in court on Thursday, saying the years that have passed have not dulled the pain of losing their loved one.

"Our family hasn't been the same. She wasn't like a grandma to us, she was like a mom to us," said Lewis' grandson, Steve Jordan Jr.

Lewis' children said they believe Aldridge confessed in order to be transferred to Florida because he felt the prisons in Mississippi were tougher.

If that was Aldridge's motive, Judge Wendy Berger's sentence thwarted his attempt to control his fate.

"He was sentence to life without parole in the state of Florida, which will run consecutive to any sentence he has active in Mississippi. He has more than 100 years in prison in Mississippi, so he'll serve his time in Mississippi and if he some how ever gets out of Mississippi, he'll come back here to spend the rest of his life in the state of Florida," said prosecutor Steve Ferebee.

Lewis' daughter, Sandra Lewis, told the court the wait for justice has been worth it.

"This has been a long time coming, and I'm hoping that the grandkids see that justice will be done and know that when you get in trouble, eventually you'll be caught and have to do your time," Lewis said.

Aldridge was not eligible for the death penalty because he entered a plea.

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