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Teen gets life for 2004 murder

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published February 20, 2006

TAMPA -- Laisha Landrum, 18, was sentenced to life in prison Monday morning after she was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the brutal June 2004 killing of Emily Clemons, 16.

Landrum's boyfriend, Rocky Almestica Jr., received the same sentence from Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Rodgers Padgett in January 2005.

Landrum and Almestica, then 16, lured Clemons to the Amaretto Apartments on N 22nd Street the night of June 9, 2004, investigators said. There, the two beat Clemons with kitchen pots, a hammer and a radio, wrapped her body in a blanket and tossed her in a garbage bin.

Clemons was still alive when she was discovered. Neighbors called 911 when they heard noise coming from the bin. She died at a hospital.

At the sentencing, Landrum's mother, father and grandmother apologized to Clemons' family and begged the judge to spare Landrum her boyfriend's fate. Landrum took tearful responsibility for her role in the murder.

Clemons' father asked the judge to give Landrum a life sentence, adding that she showed too little remorse too late.

"Any tears shed by the defendant have been crocodile tears," Brett Clemons told the judge.

Both families declined to comment on the sentencing.

[Last modified February 20, 2006, 11:47:02]