Prayers Please
 

UA student found dead in her home
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE — Police arrested a Nashville man Friday in the death of a 20-year-old University of Arkansas student.
Fayetteville police said a decomposing body found Thursday night inside an apartment a half-mile from campus is that of April Renetta Love. The case is being investigated as a homicide.
Police Sgt. Shannon Gabbard said Brandon D. Sanders, 20, was arrested in Nashville. He was in the Howard County jail Friday.
"We have evidence linking him to her and to her death," Gabbard said. He declined to give details.
Love was an acquaintance of Sanders, Gabbard said.
A UA news release called Love "very active in student organizations and well-known on campus."
She was a junior political science major and a member of UA’s chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Love interned at the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington this summer.
Howard County sheriff ’s Chief Deputy Eric Wakefield said deputies arrested Sanders at a Nashville house Friday on a Fayetteville police warrant.
Deputies searched the house, which Wakefield wouldn’t identify.
"He’s in our jail, and the Fayetteville police are coming here to get him tonight," Wakefield said.
Washington County prosecutors will review the evidence and decide what charge to file against Sanders, Gabbard said.
Fayetteville police were called to Garden Park Apartments at 1235 Mount Comfort Road at 6:38 p.m. Thursday.
Residents had complained about a foul odor coming from their roommate’s locked bedroom.
The two women said they hadn’t seen their roommate in several days and contacted an apartment property manager, police reports state.
Using a master key, the property manager unlocked the door. She saw a comforter on top of the bed with a "large mound" under it, reports state.
The manager shut the door and called police.
Love’s father called Fayetteville police Friday morning, reports state.
Ira Love said he hadn’t spoken to his daughter since 3 p.m. Wednesday when she sent him a text message.
He said he was worried because her friends said she hadn’t been to class.
Police haven’t said how Love died.
Her body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Little Rock, where an autopsy is to be performed Monday.
Angelica Glass, a member of Love’s sorority, described her friend as a fun-loving person who had "the cutest Southern accent."
"She never said anything bad about anybody. She had a great, promising future ahead of her. I am so sad it had to end this way." Information for this article was contributed by Kate Ward of the Northwest Arkansas Times.

Thanks for the post. My thoughts are with her chapter members, family members and friends.

How sad. My condolences to her family and her sorors.

:(

That is totally sad...such a waste of a talented life. My condolences to her family, sorors, and friends.

My sincere condolences to the family, friends, and sorors of a beautiful woman. :(

:( RIP Sistergreek.

I hope they bury him under the jail. :mad:

I'm so sad to hear this. Her family is in my prayers!

This breaks my heart. I will keep her family, friends and sorors in my prayers.

This is so sad. :(

Like LG said, bury him under the jail. :mad:

My prayers are with the woman's family, sorority sisters, and friends.

i'm praying for her family and friends. this is so sad, she had so much going for her.
i do hope she gets the justice she so deserves...

Someone sent me this link.....
 

Memorial for Sister Greek April....

http://april-love.memory-of.com/About.aspx

My condolences to her family and her sorors.

NP

Somehow, I didn't see this yesterday.


My prayers go out to her family and the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Condolences
 

To Soror Love's family and her chapter sisters. The loss of a very young life is sad and senseless.
:(

My deepest condolences to this young ladies family and the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. May she rest in peace..


I have better ideas of what to do with him other than putting him under the jail...when it would be all said and done, wouldnt be much left to put there :mad:

so sad .... so senseless :(
 

Though I didn't know April - loss of any kind is very traumatic, especially when the loss appears so senseless...

But God knows and sees all - and all things work together for his purpose. Though we can't understand why - he called one of his angels home... so that she can be in his presence again...

My thoughts & prayers - to all of April's family and friends.

Sanders found guilty in death of Soror April Love
 

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."

Soror thank you for posting this. I pray that Soror April's family and love ones finally have peace.

saddened
 

I was curious to find out who April Renetta Love was...and I found out that she was beautiful inside & out, loved, a humantarian...an all around good person. It's horrible that such a kind person was taken away in such a brutal way. May everyone who TRULY loved & cared for her live in peace and may she rest in peace. I do believe that her murderer should've gotten a worse sentence. His parents can still speak to him...her's cannot. Thank you for sharing April Love's story.

My prayers and condolences for the loss of your sister
 

I pray that you and your sisters gain strength and peace from knowing that they hopefully have the perp in jail. I also extend prayers to your sister and her family.

'she's a rose, she's a pearl, she's an AOII girl', Columbia Univ. circa 1897
Alpha Lambda, Georgia Southern Univ., 1994