Murder suspect claimed self-defense. Manatee deputies say he shot the victim 19 times
A 27-year-old Bradenton man claimed self-defense after he shot another man in April during a heated argument. But detectives have charged him with murder, saying he shot the victim 19 times before beating and questioning a woman about her relationship with the dead man.
De’Andre Sanders and the victim, 31-year-old Frank Green, were arguing outside of Sanders’ home when investigators say he opened Green’s car door, pulled out a gun and fired several rounds into Green’s body and head. Paramedics rushed to the home in the 5700 block of Fifth Street East in Bradenton around 4:40 a.m. on April 18. Green was confirmed dead at the scene.
In interviews with law enforcement, Sanders claimed he had fired his weapon in self-defense, but investigators say that instead of calling the police after the incident, he battered a woman at the scene and questioned her about her relationship with Green.
Detectives had obtained video surveillance footage from a nearby home that captured the argument but the video and audio was of poor quality. It took several weeks to enhance the audio on the footage, which included the two men arguing and the sound of gunshots, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sanders was arrested on Monday and he was charged with second-degree murder, domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Sanders was denied bond during his first appearance before a judge on Tuesday afternoon.
“Even though he doesn’t have much of a record, this is an extraordinary serious crime and there are obviously two victims. One did not survive and the other was threatened and beaten,” Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell said in court.
Sanders’ defense attorney, Shelli Freeland, agreed the case was serious but argued that bond be set. Sanders had a job, has four children that he helps care for, has cooperated with detectives and has serious medical issues that she hoped the judge would consider, she explained.
But despite what Manatee County Judge Melissa Gould described as compelling arguments made by the defense, she ordered that Sanders be held without bond until the trial judge can consider the request.
Sanders’s previous criminal history includes a 2017 arrest on a domestic battery charge. In that case, Sanders was charged with snatching one his children from the mother’s arms and pushing her back, after being told he could take his child. The State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the case.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 9:59 AM.
