TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Man Sentenced In '95 Murders Charged With Battery

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2009

Updated: 01/20/2009 11:10 am

Brandon Evans

TAMPA - Brandon Michael Evans, who was convicted in 1996 of two counts of third-degree murder, was arrested again this morning.

Evans, 28, of Tampa, was arrested at 12:11 a.m. today at Livingston and Bearss avenues. He was charged with violating probation and misdemeanor domestic battery.

On Nov. 23, 1995, Evans, then 15, was a passenger in a stolen Dodge Shadow driven by 14-year-old Angela Marie Benson. While leading sheriff's deputies on a 15-mile high-speed chase, Benson ran a stoplight at Columbus Drive and 40th Street and ran into a car broadside.

Two passengers in the second car, 30-year-old Glenda Brunson and 27-year-old Derek Johnson, were killed.

Benson had just been released from juvenile detention center that day after serving a 21-day sentence for auto theft, authorities said at the time. Deputies saw her driving the Dodge reported stolen hours before in Town 'N Country and began chasing her.

A deputy testified that Benson traveled the final two miles of the chase at an average speed of 87 mph, and a nurse who talked to Benson at the hospital that night said the girl told her she was going 100 mph when she barreled past the red traffic light and slammed into the other car.

Benson was convicted on two counts of third-degree murder, two counts of manslaughter, grand theft auto, burglary, fleeing, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and driving without a license in a fatal accident.

Benson was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Evans, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree murder in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence, suspended after eight years. He concluded his sentence Aug. 1, 2004.

Had Evans gone to trial and been convicted, he could have faced a maximum of 40 years, an assistant state attorney said after the deal was made.

At his Tampa apartment Monday night, Evans threw a plastic shampoo bottle at his girlfriend, striking her with it on the left leg, a criminal arrest affidavit states.

Evans then slammed a door on her hand while she was trying to hold it open, the affidavit states.

The girlfriend reported the incident to law enforcement. Evans fled the scene but was arrested a short distance away when deputies spotted his vehicle, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

Evans is being held in Orient Road Jail today. No bail has been set.

Information from Tribune archives was used in this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT