2 teens to serve about 1 year in fatal Winter Park beating

The two teenagers convicted of beating 15-year-old Roger Trindade to death in Winter Park nearly two years ago were sentenced to about a year in a juvenile detention facility Monday.

Simeon Hall and Jesse Sutherland will be in a highrisk juvenile facility, considered a mid-range commitment, Circuit Judge Jenifer Harris ruled. Assistant State Attorney Teri Mills-Uvalle asked for a 9-to-14-month commitment for Simeon and 9 to 12 months for Jesse, but the Department of Juvenile Justice will decide exactly how long their sentences will be depending on behavior, among other factors.

After their release, they will be given ankle monitors and put on community control for a period of time that Department of Juvenile Justice will determine, possibly until their 21st birthdays.

Neither teenager spoke during sentencing.

Both Jesse and Simeon also were 15 years old when they were arrested. They were convicted of manslaughter in May.

That verdict prompted Trindade’s mother, Adriana Thomé, to write a scathing letter to Circuit Judge Jenifer Harris, who oversaw the case. Harris read the letter on the stand for the first time Monday.

Harris decided last month to

sentence the teens in juvenile court instead of adult court, where they would have received harsher punishment.

Thomé wrote that Harris lacked “compassion for my family.” “Your decision shocked not only our family, but also many home citizens who were waiting for justice for Roger, a respectful boy with a life full of plans for his future,” she wrote. “I feel as if to you the fact that these people have ruined Roger’s life is not an important thing, and it [upsets] me.”

Roger died of blunt-force trauma to the head after a fight with Jesse and Simeon in October 2016 in downtown Winter Park. Jesse punched Roger, knocking him unconscious.

The manslaughter verdict prompted Roger Trindade’s mother, Adriana Thomé, to write a scathing letter to Circuit Judge Jenifer Harris, who decided to sentence the convicted teens in juvenile court instead of adult court.