She Murdered Her Ex and His Girlfriend—With Her 5 Kids in the Car | Amanda Janzen

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On the afternoon of December 25, 2023 gunshots rang out in the parking lot of a walgreens on Northwest 13th street in Gainesville, Florida. 38 year old Amanda Marie Janzen had driven to the store to drop off her 11 month old child to the baby’s father, Thomas Lepred Williams. A Putnam county judge had ordered a 5050 custody split just five days earlier on on December 20th. But Amanda didn’t come to the Walgreens just to hand off the baby.

Welcome to Love and Murder, Heartbreak to Homicide. Your Florida Man Friday edition. We are Ky’s AI co hosts. I’m AI Jensen along with Jane and Jessica, bringing you the victim stories every Wednesday and Friday. Listen to this case all the way to the end and if you like our uh, retelling then subscribe. You can also subscribe on our patreon for free patreon.com loveandmurder but if you want to dive deeper into our cases, get bonus episodes, avoid the intro and commercials and most importantly, help support the victims stories being told. Then choose a bonus tier starting at just $3 a month and join the lamb fam patreon.com love and murder we look forward to seeing you in there.

Florida mother sentenced to life in prison for shooting two people during high speed chase

Now let’s get back to this Florida Man Friday.

Amanda brought her five children with her in the car. Before arriving, she stopped to give her oldest son her food stamps card, her debit card and instructions on how to pay his phone bill, something he later told police he had never done before. Then she drove to the meeting location and parked still in the driver’s seat. She pulled a handgun from her bag, cocked it and waited. When Thomas and his girlfriend, 31 year old Anna, um Haslip Terrell, pulled into the lot, Thomas got out of the front passenger seat. Amanda got out too. She hid the gun behind her back and walked directly to the driver’s side of Anna’s car. Without warning, she fired three shots into the driver’s side window, killing Anna. Then she moved around to the passenger side of the car where Thomas had jumped back in. She shot him three times. A Gainesville police officer nearby heard the gunshots and saw Amanda speed out of the parking lot with all five children still in the car. A pursuit began. Amanda led police on a 13 mile chase that reached speeds over 100 miles per hour. During the chase, Amanda called 91 1. She told the dispatcher she had just shot two people and identified both of them by name. The dispatcher could reportedly hear her children in the background crying and begging her to pull over. Eventually, Amanda stopped near a Taco Bell in Alachua. Police arrested her and recovered the discarded murder weapon nearby. Two fully loaded magazines were also found in her possession. Surveillance footage from Walgreens captured the entire shooting. Amanda and Thomas had been in a relationship since September 2021 and shared an 11 month old child born in early 2023. But after the birth, Amanda came to believe that Thomas had been cheating on her for years with Anna. At one point, she reportedly called Anna’s husband and told him her suspicions. Weeks after this call, Thomas filed for custody of their baby. This led to a Putnam County Family Court order mandating that Amanda and Thomas share custody. And Amanda was ordered to hand over the infant to Thomas at a Walgreens located at 3909 Northwest 13th street in Gainesville at 2pm on Dec. 25. Amanda reportedly had a short criminal history, but it was not recent, dating back nearly two decades. This history included convictions for passing worthless checks in 2004 and assault and resisting arrest in 2005. Amanda was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree, one for the fatal shooting and one attempted and five counts of child neglect. Other reports stated she was charged with first degree homicide, attempted first degree homicide and five counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. An initial arrest report also included a charge of fleeing, though one source notes this charge was crossed out on the report. Judge Thomas Jaworski set her bail at $2 million. On April 29, 2024, Amanda entered a plea of no contest and was convicted on eight charges including second degree murder and attempted homicide. Gainesville police confirmed that the shooting was premeditated. Amanda had taken steps beforehand that suggested she planned the attack, giving her son her financial cards and instructions, hiding the gun and yelling at Thomas after the fact. Those were the actions of someone who had made up her mind. In court, prosecutors pointed out that Amanda’s children were present during the murder and the high speed chase. They said the psychological impact on the children would be long lasting. Amanda reportedly showed no emotion during the hearing. Judge Denise Ferrero sentenced her to life in prison. She will serve time concurrently for the additional charges. As part of her sentence, the judge ordered that Amanda is to have no contact with her own children until approved by a licensed therapist and um or court approval. She is also prohibited from contacting the victim’s family. A restitution hearing in the case had been scheduled for June 2, 2024. Ky hasn’t seen any update on this hearing. Both victims families were reported to have attended the emotional change of plea hearing. What did you think of this case? Thomas was just trying to get his child, but Amanda had other plans. I understand cheating is bad, but that is not a reason to try to murder the father of one of your children. Now, your five kids are, uh, without their mother and are probably split up among households. Let us know your thoughts on this. Now. As a small bonus, Ky wanted to bring you a shorter case to end out the week.

Kevin and Destiny Pendleton indicted for first degree murder in Lakendra Hall shooting

On the afternoon of December 27, 2023, police with the Leesburg Police Department responded to a 911 call about a, uh, shooting on the 1900 block of West Main street in Leesburg, Florida. When they arrived, they found 37 year old Lakendra hall lying on the ground, motionless and covered in blood. Next to him stood 22 year old destiny Pendleton. As officers approached, Destiny took off running. She ran to the back of the house, jumped over a fence into a neighbour’s yard and fell on the other side, hurting her hip. Officers were able to catch up with her and detained her at the scene. During a pat down search, officers noticed a lump in her left front pocket that resembled a spent shell casing. When asked, Destiny admitted they were shell casings she’d taken from the scene. Officers placed her in the patrol car and went to retrieve gloves to avoid contaminating any possible evidence. But when they came back to remove the casings, they were gone. Asked where they went, Destiny said, I.

Don’T know what you’re talking about, officer.

A female officer was brought in to assist with a more thorough search. Destiny eventually pulled three spent shell casings from inside. Huh? Her quote front private area where she had hidden them after taking them out of her pocket.

Now, if you didn’t understand what Jane meant by her front private area, she meant vagina. Destiny hid bullet shells in her hoo ha.

She was later taken to a hospital for her hip injury. There, an X ray revealed a fourth casing still inside her body. Medical staff removed it and turned it over to police.

Disgusting.

Destiny was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and resisting officers without violence. According to investigators, Destiny had gotten into an argument with Lakendra and called her brother, 19 year old Kevin Harrison, for help. When Kevin arrived, the confrontation escalated. Multiple witnesses told police that Kevin pulled a gun and shot Lakendra before fleeing the scene. The Leesburg Police Department began a manhunt for Kevin. Two days later, on December 29, Kevin surrendered to authorities. He was charged with first degree murder and booked into the Lake County Jail. A grand jury later indicted both siblings, Kevin for first degree murder and Destiny for Tampering. With physical evidence, resisting without violence, and acting as an accessory after the fact. State Attorney William Gladson said the 5th.

Judicial Circuit state Attorney’s office emphasizes its commitment to seeking justice in this case. The charges brought against Kevin Harrison and Destiny Pendleton reflect the serious nature of their alleged involvement in the tragic death of Lakendra Hall.

Woman tried to hide evidence inside her own body in Florida Man Friday case

And that is the second case we have for you today. One man is dead, one teen is facing life behind bars, and a woman tried to outsmart detectives by hiding the evidence inside her own body. What did you think of this case? Let us know your comments on both cases below.

Actually, here’s one comment that Ky found on the web of this case. Someone said, uh, I guess the headline was for shock value. Uh, a women putting items in her nature given front cargo area is no biggie. That’s why there’s the expectation that female suspects or criminals may hide items in very unique places, evident by the requirement of doing a cavity search in all potential hidey holes when necessary. Now, if they find a cheesecake AR15 or something, that would be a shocking headline. Oh, that is just so funny.

And that’s all we have for your Florida Man Friday. Now, if you want to go deeper into our cases, get case files, pictures and videos, and get bonus episodes, then sign up to be part of the laam fam patreon.com loveandmurder thanks for listening.

Thanks for your time and um, thanks for your support. Ky will see you in Monday’s case.

Sa.