Forty-three years after he fired two shots into an unarmed clerk’s chest, killing her, Roosevelt Kirk’s request for a sentence modification has been denied, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Kirk was 15 when he murdered Mildred Hendrix during a 1983 robbery. The robbery was over and Kirk’s co-defendant was leaving the store when Kirk fired 2 shots in the victim’s chest. He pled guilty in 1984 with the agreement that he would testify against his co-defendant in return for a Life sentence with eligibility for parole after serving 25 years. Two parole hearings did not result in his release.
“I believe there are people who deserve a second chance,” said Debra Needham, the victim’s granddaughter. “He was young when he made that decision, but the decision he made was not to shoot her one time, but to then shoot her again. With the judge’s ruling and (Assistant Chief 14th Judicial Circuit Prosecutor Mark Graham’s) continued work for our family, we finally feel better, that there is justice in our system.”
Changes in the law and appeals resulted in a 2017 order for a resentencing hearing because of the defendant’s age at the time of the crime. Judge Michael Overstreet presided over the 2020 resentencing and, after hearing the evidence, resentenced Kirk to Life with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
However, Overstreet also noted the defendant, based on changes in sentencing laws regarding juveniles, was entitled to a Review Hearing. The latest laws in Florida order that juveniles sentenced to Life are entitled to a Review Hearing after 25 years. It is focused on what has happened since the crime and whether the defendant is rehabilitated to the point of no longer posing a threat to society.
That hearing was held Dec. 11 with Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay presiding and Graham representing the State.
“… the Court cannot find that Defendant has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that he has been rehabilitated and is fit to reenter society,” Gay wrote in her order. “Based on review of the record in the present case, this Court believes the sentence of life imprisonment imposed at the Defendant’s December 2020 resentencing remains the most appropriate sentence.”
Graham said the appeals and resentencings in this case were caused by the evolution of the judicial system since the time of the crime that brought about retroactive changes to sentencings in certain cases involving juveniles.
“It has been almost 43 years since the defendant made a cold and calculated decision to kill an innocent and defenseless woman,” Graham said. “And for 43 years the victim’s family has had to live with this – the appeals, the court appearances, the uncertainty. They deserve some resolution and we hope this can finally bring them some sense of relief.”
Court files show Kirk was with an 18-year-old friend on March 25, 1983, when the friend suggested they rob a Junior Food Store. Both defendants were armed and Kirk drew his gun and demanded the money from the victim.
She gave him the money, and the co-defendant moved toward the exit. Kirk shot the 57-year-old mother and grandmother unprovoked, hitting her twice in the chest.
The two were arrested months later. Kirk’s co-defendant pled guilty to Second Degree Murder and Robbery and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
RELATED: Man guilty of traveling to meet minor for sex
RELATED: 50-year sentence in Waffle House homicide
At the 2025 Sentence Review Hearing the victim’s daughter, Shelia Adkins, asked Judge Gay to deny any kind of early release.
“I can’t forgive this man,” Adkins said. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I want him to stay where he is.”
Needham said the void left by her grandmother cannot be filled.
“She was the best grandmother that ever lived,” she said. “She made great contributions to all of our families, and I just feel like we have missed those opportunities. She was still young and had a lot to live for and I feel like he took that away.”
Gay’s order essentially found the defendant had not shown rehabilitation, not shown that he accepts responsibility for the s
hooting, not shown “sincere and sustained remorse,” not shown that he is a lower risk to society, and that the victim’s next-of-kin were strongly against his release.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.