Man sentenced for fatally stabbing his neighbor when he was 16

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) — A 24-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for stabbing his neighbor to death when the defendant was 16.

The Florida State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit announced that a judge sentenced Tyler Hirsch on Aug. 1 to life in the Florida Department of Corrections in connection with the death of Melody Bennett. He was previously convicted in March of first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery while armed, burglary of a dwelling while armed, and three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

On Jan. 25, 2018, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home after the victim’s brother went to check on Bennett and found her deceased. Investigators obtained DNA samples from Bennett and determined she died on the night of Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 from multiple sharp force injuries.

Authorities reportedly interviewed Hirsch, who was 16 at the time, and he said Bennett was his neighbor and a family friend. Prosecutors said Hirsch denied knowing anything about her death, but investigators later learned Hirsch told his school bus driver that a woman had been fatally stabbed. Law enforcement had not yet released any information about the crime or the victim’s cause of death at the time.

According to the state attorney’s office, authorities interviewed Hirsch’s teacher, who claimed that on Jan. 22, 2018, the defendant asked for a bandage for a large laceration and other cuts to his hand. The teacher asked about the injuries, and Hirsch allegedly told his teacher he “didn’t want to talk about it and that it was personal.”

Prosecutors said investigators spoke with Hirsch, but his statements were inconsistent. Authorities reportedly collected a DNA sample from the defendant and found a match from the scene.

Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie called the defendant’s crimes a “senseless and horrific act of violence that devastated a family and shocked an entire neighborhood.”

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