Fourth Person Convicted In Sean Taylor Murder
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The fourth person charged in the 2007 death of Washington Redskins' safety Sean Taylor has pleaded guilty.
During a hearing Tuesday, Charles Wardlow was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Wardlow, 25, was one of five young men who drove over from Ft. Myers on Thanksgiving weekend with the intention of burglarizing Taylor's Palmetto Bay home. They thought the house would be empty since he would be away for a game.
The night of the burglary, Taylor was home due to an injury. When he tried to protect his high school sweetheart Jackie Garcia and their daughter, one of the men, Eric Rivera, shot him.
Rivera, who had faced a 1st degree murder charge, was convicted in November 2013 on the lesser included charge of second-degree murder, manslaughter, burglary with a battery and trespassing. He was sentenced to 57 years.
Jason Mitchell, the alleged mastermind of the burglary plan, was found guilty of first degree murder and armed burglary in 2014 and given a life sentence.
Mitchell was a friend of teen that Taylor's daughter was dating and had even stayed in the former University of Miami defensive back's home for four days.
Venjah Hunte who pleaded guilty to his part in the crime was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
The fifth person charged, Wardlow's cousin Timmy Brown, is awaiting trial.