Florida | Man avoids death penalty in Daytona Beach triple murder

Jerome Anderson shot and killed Antoine Melvin, 42, John Burch, 65, and Patrick Lassiter, 35, in 2023.

A man pleaded no contest to a triple-murder in Daytona Beach and was sentenced April 20 to three consecutive life terms in prison as part of a plea deal in which he avoided a possible death sentence.

Jerome Anderson, 41, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the 2023 triple-slaying.

Anderson pleaded no contest to the three first-degree murder charges April 20 and, in exchange, Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak agreed not to continue to pursue the death penalty.

Circuit Judge Kathryn Weston pronounced the sentence as outlined in the plea agreement.

Anderson fatally shot three men on July 12, 2023, at three separate places in the area of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Park Drive in Daytona Beach, police said.

Anderson first shot Antoine Melvin, 42, then John Burch, 65, and finally Patrick Lassiter, 35, according to a Daytona Beach police report. The three men were shot multiple times.

A witness told police that Anderson had argued with Melvin, Burch and Lassiter the night before at a convenience store and had "made statements pertaining to murdering them during the course of the argument," according to a previous News-Journal story.

The first victim, Melvin, who lived with Anderson at 613 Park Drive, was located in the kitchen dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Burch, was found dead in the street in front of 614 Park Drive.

Anderson was identified as the shooter by a witness in both incidents, according to a police report.

Lassiter, a transient, was found in the roadway at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Park Drive. He was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center where he died.

Source: news-journalonline.com, Frank Fernandez, April 20, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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