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Killer To Serve Life For Marine's Death
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Published: May 15, 2008
TAMPA - A 21-year-old Lutz man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the shooting death of a Marine who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jonathan Sanabria was trying to rob Cpl. Miguel Angel Suarez of his gold chain.
Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta seemed to be at a loss for words before he passed sentence Wednesday.
He asked Sanabria whether he had anything to say.
"Nope," Sanabria answered.
"This was a horrible crime committed senselessly," Ficarrotta said. "A young man died over a gold necklace."
In Florida, there is no parole.
Assistant State Attorney Kristen Over told the jury Tuesday that Sanabria saw Suarez walking near Himes and Sligh avenues and decided he wanted Suarez's gold chain. He walked behind Suarez and pistol-whipped him.
Sanabria didn't expect Suarez to fight back - but he did, Over said. Sanabria fired a warning shot, but Suarez kept coming. He fired again, striking Suarez in the head at close range. Instantly, Suarez fell flat.
Later that night, Sanabria showed up at a female friend's house. He said he was in trouble and asked her to help him soak the gun in bleach to remove any DNA. He scraped a screwdriver in and out of the barrel to prevent ballistics tests, Over told the jury.
Sanabria watched a television news report about Suarez's murder and told the girlfriend he was the killer.
Sheriff's detectives would find Sanabria's DNA under Suarez's fingernails. Sanabria confessed.
Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Littman asked the jury not to rely on the statements of Sanabria's girlfriend because she did not witness the crime. He also asked them to remember that Sanabria gave two statements to detectives, first saying he did not kill Suarez.
The jury returned a guilty verdict in about an hour.
Suarez, 25, was a 2000 graduate of Jefferson High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2002 and served 16 months in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was killed while spending time at his parents' home awaiting orders to return to Iraq.
Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.
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