A Florida judge has sentenced 21-year-old Savonne Morrison to 45 years in prison for the random killing of a cyclist in Clearwater in 2022. Judge Elizabeth Jack imposed the sentence on Monday after a lengthy hearing, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Details of the crime
Morrison was 18 and on probation for an armed carjacking when he and friend Jermaine Bennett attacked 49-year-old Jeffrey Chapman. The pair had initially sought to assault Bennett's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend but failed to find him. They then spent time drinking and taking cocaine while driving around St. Petersburg, smashing vehicles with a tire iron and attacking 82-year-old John Budenas for directions.
In Clearwater Beach, they spotted Chapman riding his bicycle. Bennett knocked him off the bike with the tire iron, and both beat him to death. Surveillance footage captured the attack. Chapman had no prior connection to the assailants.
Sentencing and prior offenses
Judge Jack imposed 15 years for manslaughter and 30 years for violating probation on the carjacking conviction, to run consecutively. Morrison had been released from prison only four months earlier after serving part of a sentence for a carjacking committed when he was 15. In that case, victim Benji Joseph was dragged from his vehicle, beaten so badly that his left ear had to be surgically reattached.
Impact on the victim's family
Jeffrey's daughter, Sierra Chapman, told the court: 'My father was murdered for sport. What makes this even more disgusting is that the defendant was on probation for a violent felony when he did this. A violent prior offense, probation given, and murder chosen. If this is who he has been when he was given a second chance, what exactly would a third chance produce? My father was given no chances that night.'
Defense and prosecution arguments
Defense lawyer Jervis Wise argued that a life sentence would violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Florida, which limits life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders in non-homicide cases. Assistant State Attorney Thomas Koskinas asked for a life sentence, citing a probation officer's report describing Morrison as a 'danger to society.' Morrison's parents submitted letters, with his father writing: 'Throughout this case, it has been heartbreaking to watch my son be portrayed as someone that he is not.'
