DAYTONA BEACH — A Daytona Beach man was sentenced Thursday to two consecutive life terms for using a pair of hammers to beat one man to death and nearly kill a second.
Arenthius Jenkins, 34, was convicted in March of second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of cocaine.
Jenkins beat 60-year-old Billy Ford and 57-year-old Terry Gross on April 22, 2016, on Jefferson Street. Ford died of his injuries while Gross survived after several weeks in a hospital and rehab.
Disagreeing with a defense request for parole or house arrest with mental health treatment, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins sentenced Jenkins to two consecutive life terms for the murder and attempted murder. Perkins also sentenced Jenkins to a pair of consecutive five years in prison on each of the aggravated assault counts. He gave Jenkins five years concurrent on the cocaine charge.
Perkins said the jury had rejected defense arguments that Jenkins was not guilty by reason of insanity and in so doing, had also rejected the arguments that the attacks were caused by a mental illness. Perkins said jurors instead found that it was Jenkins' substance abuse of drugs and alcohol that had been the issue.
"My heart just goes out to the families on both sides that have been through this. This is indeed a tragic case," Perkins said.
Jenkins did not testify at the sentencing or during the trial. Jenkins had shown little or no emotion during the trial and did not appear to show any reaction to the sentence.
But a woman in the gallery cried out at the consecutive life terms.
Assistant Public Defender Matt Phillips had cited the testimony at sentencing from the line of Jenkins' family and friends who talked about his erratic behavior and paranoia, like blocking the door and windows to his grandmother's house because he thought someone was out to get them.
They described him as having had life-long psychiatric problems. They said he would talk and gesticulate to himself, thinking someone was out to get him. Family and friends said Jenkins was gentle and a good person who had acted violently because of his mental illness.
Jenkins' brother, Diwon Barron, testified about trying to get his brother admitted to Halifax Health Medical Center.
But Jenkins had not met the criteria for admission, according to testimony from hospital staff during the trial.
Barron said he had finally received a court order to involuntarily commit Jenkins on April 22, 2016 under the Marchman Act, which is intended for someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But it was too late. Jenkins had already attacked the men earlier that day.
Assistant State Attorney Heatha Trigones, who prosecuted the case along with Megan Upchurch, asked for consecutive life sentences for Jenkins saying he would be a danger to the community if he was released.
She noted that Jenkins had been dealing drugs earlier on the day of the attacks. And she said that despite his supposed mental illness Jenkins had not turned iolent on his family or friends.
"He didn't attack anyone in his family. He didn't attack anyone he knew," Trigones said.
Jenkins had been staying at his grandmother’s house on Jefferson Street after his girlfriend kicked him out of their apartment.
Ford and Gross, neighbors in Port Orange, were working on a house next door to the grandmother’s house. After the two men returned from lunch, Jenkins took a pair of 2-pound hammers from Ford’s truck. Jenkins attacked first Ford, leaving his face a bloody mess and the dying man sprawled on the ground with his skull shattered.
When Gross walked outside he saw his work partner and went to call 9-1-1. That’s when Jenkins suddenly appeared, raised the two hammers and started beating Gross who tried to run but Jenkins beat him down, fracturing his skull.
Jenkins then walked down Jefferson Street holding the bloody hammers. Jenkins said he encountered two men and one of them gave him a “funny look,” prosecutors said. So he tried to hit the man with a hammer. He missed and the two men fled.
After the hearing, outside the S. James Foxman Justice Center, Barron said the system from health care to justice had failed his brother.
"I think it was unfair. I don't think my brother received justice," Barron said.