Annette Anderson and her grandson were found dead in 2013 inside a Miami Gardens home.
MIAMI, Fla. — A Florida judge sentenced two men to decades in prison after guilty pleas in the killings of a minister and her grandson, ending a case that began with grief inside a Miami Gardens home in 2013.
The victims, 70-year-old Annette Anderson and 20-year-old Tyrone Walker Jr., were at the center of the final hearing even when their relatives chose not to speak publicly. Anderson had been known for church service, Bible study and community work. Walker had moved to South Florida to study and build a future near his grandmother. Their deaths drew shock across Miami Gardens, and the criminal case against Reginald Jackson and Roderick Martin lingered for nearly 13 years before the men accepted prison terms.
Anderson was a minister connected to Jesus People Ministries in Miami Gardens and also served in prayer ministry and community outreach. Friends and church leaders said after the killings that she had been quiet, humble and deeply involved in helping others. She had hosted Bible study at her home on Tuesdays and was concerned about crime in the neighborhood. Walker had come from Jacksonville only months before the killings. He was studying at ITT Technical Institute and working as a cook at Burger King. Relatives said he went to church with Anderson every Sunday and kept a journal about the difference he hoped to make in life.
The two were found dead July 16, 2013, inside Anderson’s home on Northwest 207th Street. Investigators said both had been bound and shot in the back of the head. Later court accounts said Anderson had been cooking before the killings and that food was still in the oven when the bodies were found. Police believed property had been taken from the home, including Anderson’s cellphone, debit card and television, and Walker’s Xbox game console and debit card. The killings were later framed by investigators as tied to robbery, though the final hearing still left the judge asking why both victims had to die.
The community’s grief was visible days after the bodies were found, when one white casket and one baby blue casket were brought to a funeral at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Miami Gardens. A photo slideshow showed Anderson and Walker at different ages. A pastor briefly told mourners that someone had been caught, then corrected the statement after Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert clarified that police had not yet made an arrest but believed they knew who was responsible. Gilbert, who said Anderson had been an old friend, told mourners that the city would remember her by how she lived, not by how she was taken.
Jackson and Martin were later charged in the killings. Jackson was charged in 2013, and Martin was charged in 2015. By April 2026, the case had become one of delay as much as accusation. The men were facing first-degree murder and other charges before the plea deal reduced the murder counts. In court, Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm and robbery counts. Martin also pleaded guilty to lesser murder charges. Venzer sentenced Jackson to 40 years in state prison and Martin to 25 years. Together, the sentences totaled 65 years.
The plea did not happen smoothly. A week before the final sentencing, Jackson had been brought to court expecting to take a 40-year deal while Martin was expected to accept 25 years. Jackson did not see his mother in the courtroom and became angry. He said his family had been at the courthouse but had been told the case would not be called. “It ain’t like I’m denying anything. I want to see my family,” Jackson said to his lawyer during the hearing. He also said he wanted his mother to see him because a previous court appearance had been the last time he saw his grandmother before she died.
The outburst forced Martin into the moment because he and Jackson were handcuffed together. Jackson walked out, Martin had to move with him, and the plea collapsed. Prosecutors were unwilling to move forward with Martin’s deal alone because they had expected him to cooperate if Jackson went to trial. When the case came back days later, the men stood separately before the judge and gave brief answers. Venzer asked Martin if he was pleading guilty because he was guilty. Martin answered, “Yes.” Jackson also answered the judge’s plea questions and accepted the 40-year sentence.
At sentencing, Venzer described the deaths in stark terms and asked the men to explain the killings. Neither Jackson nor Martin offered an answer. “What could’ve been the basis to take these two lives and snuff them out?” she asked. The question mattered because the hearing was not only about closing court files. It marked the legal end of a case in which a grandmother and grandson had been remembered as active in church, family and work, while the men convicted in their deaths gave no public reason for the violence.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the plea resolved a painful chapter without putting the family and the community through a trial. Defense attorney Jimmy Della Fera said there was relief on both sides because the case was over, while also calling the killings a loss for the whole community. The victims’ loved ones declined to comment after the plea, leaving the public record to the judge, the attorneys and the answers Jackson and Martin gave when they admitted guilt.
For now, the case moves from a pending murder prosecution to prison sentences for both men. Anderson and Walker remain the names at its center, remembered in court and in earlier funeral accounts as a minister and grandson whose deaths shook Miami Gardens.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.