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By CANDACE RONDEAUX, Times Staff WriterThe first of the three suspects in the sandwich shop robbery that ended in the death of a fashion student is sentenced.
TAMPA - Ten bucks. That's all it took to persuade Darrell Sebron Doby Jr. to drive two friends to a Town 'N Country sandwich shop so they could commit an armed robbery. The crime left one young woman dead and another woman seriously wounded.
Now Doby, 19, will spend most of the next six years behind bars.
On Tuesday, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta sentenced Doby to five years and 11 months in prison and three years probation for his role in the December shooting death of 22-year-old fashion design student Danielle Miller. Doby was originally arrested on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery, but prosecutors dropped the first charge as part of a plea agreement in exchange for his testimony against the two others.
Nine months ago, on Dec. 4, 2004, Doby drove two acquaintances to the Subway at 8019-A W Hillsborough Ave., then waited in his mother's Nissan Maxima while the teenagers hopped over the store's counter and pilfered the cash registers.
As Doby and the others drove off with $70 from the till, Miller, a student at the International Academy of Design and Technology, lay dying near her wounded co-worker, Dorothy Hayes.
On Tuesday, Doby appeared remorseful during sentencing. There were no victims' family members addressing the judge. There was only Doby, saying, "I'm sorry."
"I apologize for taking part in this crime," he said. "I want to send my condolences out to the family of the young lady that was shot and the young lady who was killed."
About two weeks after the deadly robbery, Hillsborough sheriff's investigators arrested Doby, who confessed to being the driver. With no serious crimes on his record and a steady job as a Wal-Mart clerk, he seemed an unlikely getaway driver. He lived with family in a $165,000 home in Riverview.
Deputies also arrested Marquis Devon Alexander shortly after the robbery. According to a Sheriff's Office report, Alexander, 17, admitted he was one of the masked robbers. He has not yet entered a plea and his next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
At the time of his arrest, Alexander identified his friend, Phillip L. Austin Jr., of 3002 E Pocahontas Ave., as the triggerman, according to his arrest affidavit. A former Subway employee, 19-year-old Austin has not been charged in connection with the robbery. He was, however, arrested on Dec. 11 on an unrelated charge of carjacking a taxi driver. A jury trial in that case is set for Oct. 10.
On the weekend of Austin's arrest, sheriff's investigators searched a Mercury Grand Marquis belonging to Alexander's mother. Deputies seized her car based on a tip, got a warrant, and searched it. Inside, they found a .32-caliber revolver and a .22-caliber revolver.
Ballistics experts at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab in Tampa confirmed that bullets found at the Town 'N Country Subway robbery matched the .22-caliber revolver, the Sheriff's Office said.
Hillsborough State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Pam Bondi said Tuesday that prosecutors were hopeful Doby's cooperation would help bring the shooter in the Subway robbery to justice soon.
Candace Rondeaux can be reached at rondeaux@sptimes.com or 813 226-3337.