Man attacks family with branch cutters in home invasion, Florida cops say. He’s sentenced

A man accused of breaking into a home and attacking a family with branch cutters has been sentenced to life in prison, Florida authorities said.

Lyndell McFrank Demps, 52, was convicted of home invasion robbery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District.

The state attorney’s office announced Demps’ sentence Sept. 10.

McClatchy News reached out to Demps’ attorney Sept. 11 but did not immediately receive a response.

Demps was released from prison in November 2022 after serving 26 years on an attempted armed carjacking conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

Seven months later, he broke into a family’s home armed with long-handled branch cutters, the Orlando Police Department said in an arrest affidavit.

At around 2 a.m. on June 15, 2023, Demps entered the family’s back patio and started looking through the items outside, when the homeowner walked out to smoke, police said.

When they encountered each other, Demps started attacking the man with the branch cutters, leaving him with cuts on his head, face and hands, according to police.

Demps is accused of knocking out one of the man’s teeth and shattering the sliding glass door leading into the home. Demps then encountered the man’s wife and mother-in-law and demanded money from them, police said.

Home surveillance footage shows him corner the mother-in-law and other family members in the living room and swing the branch cutter up and down, assaulting the family while asking for money, according to police.

One of them tried to call 911, and he took their phones when he realized it, police said.

Eventually, he went into a bedroom, took a jar of coins and fled, according to police.

He’s accused of breaking into a daycare afterward before police found him.

Demps told investigators he was homeless and went onto the porch to get food or money but stayed because it was raining heavily, police said.

He apologized in a letter to the homeowner he first encountered, who was the most severely injured in the attack.

“I am really, really sorry and I wish that the outcome was different,” he wrote in his letter, according to police. “Hope that you are feeling better.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Man attacks family with branch cutters in home invasion, Florida cops say. He’s sentenced."