Jason Cantrell Sentenced

 

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on September 8, 2016, Jason Cantrell entered a plea to the charge of Accessory After the Fact to Second Degree Murder.

The Honorable Michael C. Overstreet sentenced Cantrell to 9 years in prison. Mr. Cantrell’s charges stemmed from his role in events that followed the October 19, 2015 murder of Mr. Clifford Lewis by Melissa Kennedy. Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy was prepared to prove that a few days after acquiring the handgun from Cantrell, Kennedy shot and killed her boyfriend, Clifford Lewis, in his home.  Evidence showed that Kennedy was upset that Lewis was preparing to evict her out of his house.  After the murder, Jason Cantrell retrieved the handgun from Kennedy, partially disassembled it, and hid it in his storage shed.  Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators Wade Boan and David Sullivan conducted an investigation which ultimately led to obtaining a search warrant for Cantrell’s storage shed where the handgun was recovered.  Ballistics testing confirmed that the handgun hidden by Cantrell was the same handgun used by Melissa Kennedy to murder Clifford Lewis.

On July 28, 2016, Melissa Kennedy was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the charge of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm.  Kennedy is 43 years old.