He Was Trusted to be Her Kids’ Godfather. Now the Florida Man Faces Trial for Killing Their Mother and Dumping Her Body in a Canal

A Florida judge rejected a proposed plea deal for a former assistant principal accused of killing his former coworker in 2019. The decision came after emotional statements from her family, including her mother, who told the court she wanted the case to go to trial. Ernest Roberts, 47, appeared in court Friday prepared to plead guilty to second-degree murder in Kameela Russell’s death. Under the proposed agreement, he would have served 30 years in state prison, followed by five years of probation. However, Roberts initially appeared to misunderstand the terms, telling the court he believed he would receive 30 years of probation. After speaking with his attorney, Roberts said he would accept the prison sentence. But the hearing took a different direction as Russell’s relatives addressed the court and described the loss of the mother of two, whose disappearance in May 2019 ended with the discovery of her body in a Florida canal.

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