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Sanders guilty of murder
By Ron Wood

THE MORNING NEWS * RWOOD@NWAONLINE.NET

FAYETTEVILLE -- Brandon Sanders was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday for killing April Love last year.

Sanders, 21, of Nashville was accused of killing Love, a popular University of Arkansas student, in September 2005.

The jury took about eight hours Monday to find Sanders guilty of first-degree murder. The defense had asked for a lesser charge.

The jury deliberated well into the evening before returning the sentencing recommendation. Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey sentenced Sanders immediately.

An appeal is planned, according to Sanders' attorney.

Murder in the first degree is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison. It also carries a 70 percent requirement. Sanders will have to serve 70 percent of his sentence before being eligible to apply for parole. He will get credit for more than a year served in the Washington County jail awaiting trial.

Love, a junior from Hope, was a rising star at the University of Arkansas, majoring in political science with a minor in African-American studies. She interned at the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington the summer before her death.

She was president of the Diversity Alliance, a vice president of the Young Democrats, a student senator for two years and a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

"She was just a special child. We've all been robbed. Not only were we as a family robbed of a very special person, we as a society were robbed of a very special person," said Ira Love, April's father, during the sentencing phase of the trial.

"There is not a day, there is not an hour I do not think about April," Magigore Love, April's mother. "She was a blessed child."

Love died from "asphyxiation by undetermined means," according to an autopsy report.

Prosecutors said Sanders killed Love, hid the body then sent her father a "Hey Daddy!" e-mail so the body wouldn't be found before he could get away.

"That is cold. That is calculated. That is purposeful," prosecutor Mieka Hatcher told jurors during her closing argument Monday. "This case is all about the destruction of evidence and the defendant covering his tracks."

The defense argued that Love died during a sex act gone bad and Sanders then panicked.

A state medical examiner testified Friday that asphyxiation isn't a quick way to die. A person will pass out quickly when the air is cut off; but, unless pressure continues to be exerted for another three to four minutes, the person will wake up.

Scratch marks on Love's arms were testimony to how Love died, Hatcher said.

"Those are not the marks of somebody having a good time," Hatcher said. "That's the mark of someone that wants to live."

Hatcher said there were signs of a struggle in Love's car, blood on both front seats and the rearview mirror ripped off.

Love's body was found about four days after that in her Fayetteville apartment wrapped in sheets like a mummy and so decomposed the medical examiner had to use dental records to identify her.

Then there were the missing items: Her cell phone, wallet and keys were found at Sanders' home in Nashville when he was arrested. Rubber gloves from the apartment sink, pillow cases and Love's clothes were never found.

"According to the defendant, every witness who testified lied and he's telling you the truth," Hatcher said.

She specifically cited Ryan Morbley, Sander's best friend, who told jurors Sanders admitted choking Love to death after the two fought.

The defense contended Sanders panicked because he didn't think it possible to explain the situation to police.

"He could never have explained this, not in a million years," Q. Byrum Hurst told jurors. "What this case is about is what happened afterward."

Hurst asked the jury to acquit or convict of a lesser charge of second-degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide.

"This was not murder, this was a terrible, terrible accident. He made terrible, terrible decisions but he didn't kill April Love."

But prosecutors said Sanders had a year to get his story straight and the version he gave jurors didn't add up.

"When you add it all up, it makes no sense," said prosecutor Matt Durett. "The defendant is not just guilty of bad judgment, he's guilty of causing the death of April Love."