JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite the victim of a stabbing and others asking for leniency, a teenager convicted of attempted murder in the of a homeless man last year was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Eric Sandefur admitted to attacking a 28-year-old victim who told police he was sleeping behind an office building on Kori Road near San Jose Boulevard in Mandarin in December.
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While Sandefur was 17 at the time of the attack, he was charged as an adult.
Investigators said Sandefur stabbed Jason Jerome in his hip, chest, stomach and neck, and they said he nearly amputated the man's middle finger in an unprovoked attack.
Prosecutors had said the attack was an attempted "thrill kill." According to the arrest report, Sandefur made statements to investigators that he wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
Sandefur also took the stand at his sentencing hearing and read a letter of apology to Jerome.
"I injured a man near to death and pushed him from what could have been a wonderful time in his life to the hospital," Sandefur said. "I let the waves of my depression any my anger take over me."
During Friday's hearing, Sandefur's neighbors, scout leader and grandfather testified sentencing hearing, asking for leniency. So did the victim.
"The boy I met that night, back in December, was neither a violent or malicious beast. He seemed to take no joy in bringing pain to another human being," Jerome said. "There was a moment it seemed he was more trying to throw away his life at my hands than rob me of my own."
Jerome said he has forgiven Sandefur and asked that he should be given a minimal sentence and allowed "every chance to get back on the right path and get the help he needs."
Despite the testimony of Jerome and others and considering all options available for sentencing, Circuit Judge Virginia Norton gave Sandefur the maximum sentence possible.
"I reviewed your sentencing video twice, and I am deeply concerned about the safety of the citizens of the state of Florida," Norton told him.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Sandefur wearing a suit and approaching Jerome with a knife in his right hand. In the video, blood can be seen all over Jerome's blanket just minutes after the violent attack.
According to an arrest report, police were called to Sandefur's home for a follow-up on the stabbing, and Sandefur told officers he wanted to turn himself in. Police said they found a knife and clothing possibly worn during the attack at his home.
Prosecutors said Sandefur made statements to them that he also wanted to kill a woman. Police said Sandefur did not know the homeless man he was accused of trying to kill.