Life sentence upheld for then-minor in kidnapping, rape, murder of 17-year-old honors student

Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read
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Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese had sentenced Joshua Henninger, 25, in 2007 for the murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and arson of AnnaMarie Randazzo, 17.
Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese had sentenced Joshua Henninger, 25, in 2007 for the murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and arson of AnnaMarie Randazzo, 17.

A judge on Friday upheld the life sentence of a then-minor, convicted in 2007 for the 2005 brutal murder of a teenage girl.

Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese had sentenced Joshua Henninger, 25, in 2007 for the murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and arson of AnnaMarie Randazzo, 17. Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle on Friday upheld Reese's ruling.

Cape Coral police Chief Anthony Sizemore was a detective assigned to the Major Crimes Unit at the time. He was one of the investigators who worked the case, which led to the arrest and conviction of Jeremy Chapman and Henninger, who was 16 at the time, and testified in court Friday.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012 declared that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for defendants younger than 18 and required courts to review the sentences.

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A Lee County grand jury on Aug. 23, 2005, returned indictments on Henninger and Chapman for the kidnapping, rape and murder of the 17-year-old Mariner High School honors student.

The pair kidnapped the girl and each raped her on multiple occasions before Chapman smashed her skull with a 50-pound log. They then drove the body to Lehigh Acres, stopping to eat at a McDonalds, and tossed her body into a refrigerator before setting it ablaze.

Chapman on June 25, 2007, pleaded guilty to the crimes and was spared the death penalty as part of his agreement.

Henninger is one of at least three then-youth who've had their life sentences upheld in the last two years.

In August, the life sentence of Ashley Toye, now 35, was reduced to 30 years with credit for time served. She will be released by 2037.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: AnnaMarie Randazzo murder: Judge upholds sentence of Joshua Henninger