A 49-year-old Florida man was sentenced to life in prison after taking the life of his former girlfriend inside a boarding house, prosecutors said.
Joseph Anderson, 49, lived at the shared boarding house with 58-year-old Alesa Leach in Jacksonville, according to court documents.
Leach had previously been in a relationship with Anderson before obtaining a domestic-violence injunction ordering him to stay away from her, records show.
On November 8, 2025, Anderson was removed from the boarding house after violating the order, police said.
Prosecutors established that he continued returning to the property despite the injunction. He was seen arguing with Leach on November 14, prosecutors said.
On November 17, Leach was found covered in blood on a mattress behind her locked bedroom door, according to authorities.
The medical examiner determined she died from blunt-force trauma, records show.
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Prosecutors presented evidence showing Anderson had been inside the home around the time of her death. A nearby Ring camera also captured him tampering with the device before he fled Florida for Connecticut, prosecutors said.
Investigators discovered another critical piece of evidence following Anderson’s December 5 arrest, police said.
The keys to Leach’s locked bedroom door were found inside his vehicle, according to investigators.
On September 2, 2026, a Duval County jury convicted Anderson on five counts, court records show.
The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder with a weapon, burglary with assault or battery, aggravated stalking, tampering with evidence and violating a domestic-violence injunction.
Eight days later, Anderson was sentenced to life in prison, records show.
Leach was a mother of five, an ordained minister and a Jacksonville city bus operator who had survived domestic violence herself. She used those experiences to encourage other women, records show.
Her sons remembered her as a devoted mother, woman of faith and active member of her community.
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