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Supreme Court of Florida

Tina Lasonya Brown v. State of Florida

Tina Brown was convicted of beating 19-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman with a crowbar, shocking her with a stun gun and then setting her on fire in Brown's family home. Brown's daughter Britnee Miller, then 16, told the judge at her own trial that the plan was to fight Zimmerman, but it escalated out of control. The attack was said to be the result of a disagreement over a man.

After beating her and using the stun gun, the trio put Zimmerman in the trunk of a car, drove her to a wooded area, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. Zimmerman was able to run to a nearby home and call 911 with severe burns across 60 percent of her body. She died two weeks later.

Tina Brown remains on death row for brutal murder

Pensacola News Journal

May 22, 2014

The Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld the conviction and death penalty sentence of a Pensacola woman convicted of beating a 19-year-old with a crowbar, shocking her with a stun gun and then setting her on fire, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

In 2012, Tina Lasonya Brown, 43, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Audreanna Zimmerman.

Brown, her daughter, Britnee Miller, then 16, and neighbor Heather Lee, then 27, attacked Zimmerman in Brown’s Ensley home in 2010.

After beating and stunning her, the trio put Zimmerman in the trunk of a car, drove her to a wooded area off Lepley Avenue, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire.

Investigators said the attack was sparked by a disagreement over a man.

Zimmerman was able to run to a nearby home and call 911 after the attack, investigators said. She was transported to a hospital in Mobile with severe burns across 60 percent of her body. She died two weeks later.

Brown’s jury found her guilty and recommended the death penalty unanimously. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied Brown’s appeal of the sentence and conviction.

Lee, 30, testified against Brown during the trial, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Miller, now 20, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2013 for her role in the attack. During her trial, Miller told Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh that the initial plan had been for her to fight Zimmerman, but that attack escalated out of control.

Teen Sentenced To Life For Ensley Burning Death

NorthEscambia.com

May 7, 2013

An Escambia County woman has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2010 fatal beating and burning of a 19-year old woman.

Britnee Miller, 19, was given life without parole by Judge Gary Bergosh after her plea to first degree murder and kidnapping in the death of 19-year old Audreanna Zimmerman in March 2010. Zimmerman was beaten and burned in an Ensley field; she died 16 days after the attack.

Miller’s mother, Tina Brown, was sentenced to death in the case, and Heather Lee was given a reduced sentence of 25 years on a second degree murder charge and testifying against Brown.

Judge sentences Tina Brown to death

Pensacola News Journal

September 27, 2012

The woman who beat and burned a teenager to death in Ensley in March 2010 was sentenced to death this afternoon.

Tina Brown, 42, was convicted in June of killing Audreanna Zimmerman, 19. Zimmerman was repeatedly beaten and hit with a stun gun before she was taken out to a wooded area and set on fire.

During a brief hearing this afternoon, Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh sentenced Brown to death. Reading from his order, Bergosh said the case made by prosecutors, which in part detailed the heinous way Zimmerman died, outweighed evidence presented by the defense.

The defense, during the penalty phase of the trial, had multiple family members and doctors testify, and said Brown has lived a hard life full of drugs and sexual abuse.

This life influenced her state of mind and the decisions she made at the time Zimmerman was killed, according to testimony.

Prior to Bergosh’s sentence, Brown made one last statement, saying she was sorry for her involvement in Zimmerman’s death, and that “I want them to have closure.”

“I hope today they get it,” Brown said.

Bridgette Jensen, the prosecutor handling the case, said she is pleased with the judge’s decision, as the State Attorney’s Office do not take seeking the death penalty lightly.

“This is certainly one that qualified based on the nature (of the murder),” Jensen said.

Bergosh noted that everyone sentenced to death has their case reviewed by the state Supreme Court. John Jay Gontarek, Brown’s attorney, also pointed this out during comments made after the sentencing.

“These cases are difficult cases, and of course we’re sympathetic to the family of the victim,” Gontarek said.

Brown's daughter, 19-year-old Britnee Miller, is awaiting sentencing after pleading to a first-degree charge in the same case. Another co-defendant, Heather Lee, received a 25-year prison sentence from Bergosh after pleading to a second-degree murder charge.

Woman facing death penalty apologizes to family

Pensacola News Journal

August 22, 2012

The Ensley woman facing death for brutally murdering a teenager in 2010 made a tearful plea to a judge for her life today, saying she is so sorry for what happened.

Tina Brown, 42, was convicted in June of killing 19-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman.

A few days later, the jury unanimously recommended that she be put to death for her crime.

Brown, her daughter and a neighbor were arrested in March 2010 after beating Zimmerman and repeatedly attacking her with a stun gun. They then are accused of taking her to a wooded area, setting her on fire and leaving her for dead.

Zimmerman later died in the burn ward of a Mobile hospital.

Today, Brown, decked out in a green jumpsuit and wearing handcuffs, appeared in court for a Spencer hearing, a proceeding designed as one of the last chances for prosecutors and defense attorneys to make their case on why or why not she should be put to death.

During the short hearing, Brown tearfully told Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh that she was “so sorry she helped in this.”

“I remember back, looking at the autopsy pictures,” Brown said. “They haunt me today.”

At first, Brown, wearing a green jumpsuit with her hands cuffed in front of her, appeared stood in front of Bergosh. Soon, though, she broke down and said “I’m not going to be able to do it.”

The courtroom was empty, save for attorneys and court personnel. Even though Zimmerman’s family was not in court, Brown apologized to them, expressing the pain she has felt because the teen’s funeral could not be held with an open casket.

“Her daughter died a horrific death,” Brown said. “She didn’t deserve it at all.”

Brown will be sentenced on Sept. 28. The decision is ultimately left to Bergosh, who also has the option of giving her life in prison without parole.

Sentence Handed Down In Escambia Murder, Body Burning

NorthEscambia.com

July 20, 2012

An Escambia County woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday for her part in the murder of a teen.

Heather Trinee Lee, 30, was one of three people charged with second degree murder for her role in brutally beating and burning 19-year old Audreanna Zimmerman in an Ensley field. Zimmerman lived for 16 days after the attack.

One of her co-defendants, Tina Lasonya Brown, 41, was convicted of first degree murder last month. The jury recommended the death penalty, but the judge could choose to sentence her to life in prison.

Brown’s 19-year old daughter, Britnee Miller, has also pleaded guilty to first degree murder. Her sentencing is set for September. Miller was a minor at the time of the murder cannot be sentenced to life in prison under a recent ruling from the Supreme Court.

Tina Brown: Penalty phase today for woman convicted in teen's death

Pensacola News Journal

June 25, 2012

Tina Brown was found guilty last week of first-degree murder in the 2010 beating and burning death of an Escambia County teenager.

Brown will face either the death penalty or life in prison. The penalty phase, which consists of the jury listening to evidence to make a recommendation on what Brown’s sentence should be, started this morning.

Brown, 41, was accused along with two others of attacking Audreanna Zimmerman, 19, with a stun gun and crow bar, then dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.

Zimmerman died in a Mobile hospital 16 days after the attack in March 2010.

Family members of the woman convicted of murdering a teen said Monday that she had a hard upbringing, complete with a drug-dealing and abusive father.

Brown grew up in the Chicago suburbs, born to two parents that were too young, said her uncle, Gerald Coleman. Often, she would be left alone, and was caring for her brother, who is one year younger, at age six, Coleman said.

Later, after moving, Brown also got involved in drugs and prostitution, family said.

"When Tina is not caught up in that mess, she is a beautiful person," said her uncle, J.C. Coleman.

More family is expected to testify, as well as two expert witnesses.

Tina Brown guilty in teen's beating, burning death

Pensacola News Journal

June 21, 2012

Tina Brown was found guilty today of first-degree murder in the 2010 beating and burning death of an Escambia County teenager.

The jury returned the verdict around 1 p.m., after hearing closing arguments this morning. Brown will face either the death penalty or life in prison. The penalty phase starts at 9 a.m. Monday.

Brown, 41, is accused along with two others of attacking Audreanna Zimmerman, 19, with a stun gun and crow bar, then dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.

Zimmerman died in a Mobile hospital 16 days after the attack in March 2010.

During her closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Jensen detailed the “secrets (Brown) never thought would make it out of the woods,” again repeating what Zimmerman told rescuers when they found her sitting on the steps of a resident’s house.

“‘They Tased me, they beat me in the head with a crowbar and set me on fire,’” Jensen said. “‘My friends did it. I thought we had made up.’”

Jensen said several times that Zimmerman’s murder was planned and subsequently carried out by Brown. While Brown told detectives that she and Zimmerman watched movies together the day of the attack, Jensen said that story … and the story that the pair had settled their differences was just a ruse to get Zimmerman to walk into the trap.”

“Look at Tina Brown’s actions on March 24. She had intent to kill,” Jensen said.

John Jay Gontarek, Brown’s attorney, said the state’s case is a “house of cards,” and that there was conflicting testimony between co-defendant Heather Lee and a teenager who was in the trailer when the beating happened.

“(The teen) or Heather, who was telling the truth in that case?” Gontarek said.

Lee pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year, and her testimony this week was a condition of her plea agreement. During her testimony, Lee said she was forced to participate in Zimmerman’s beating.

Gontarek also said Zimmerman’s attack could not have been premeditated, an element of first-degree murder, because the trio did not clean up everything from the sight of the beating.

“What kind of premeditation is this?” Gontarek told jurors several times.

Sammy Rejino, Zimmerman’s father, remained the only family member present in the courtroom. As the case’s gruesome details were once again told to the jury, Rejino just listened, rarely moving or changing the expression on his face.

The rest of the crowd was made up of attorneys, court personnel and a criminal-justice class. Brown, wearing a brown blazer, sat at her table, mostly staring right ahead as Jensen detailed the attack.

Prosecution, defense rest in capital murder trial of Tina Brown

Pensacola News Journal

June 21, 2012

The first-degree murder case of a woman accused of taking part in the brutal killing a teenager is expected to go before a jury after closing arguments this morning.

Tina Brown, 41, is accused along with two others of attacking Audreanna Zimmerman, 19, with a stun gun and crow bar, then dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire.

Zimmerman died in a Mobile hospital 16 days after the attack in March 2010.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Brown would face either the death penalty or life in prison.

On Wednesday morning, after presenting several witnesses, the prosecution rested, ending a day and a half of testimony that gave jurors a microscopic view of the night of the attack.

Brown’s attorney then presented one witness before the defense rested.

Various motives for Zimmerman’s killing were explored in testimony.

One allegation is that there was a dispute between Brown and Zimmerman, who was married and had children, over a man. Another was that Zimmerman tried to use a stun gun on Brown’s daughter during a scuffle shortly before the attack.

The jurors were shown five photos chronicling the severe burns that contributed to Zimmerman’s death. Eugene Hart, an Alabama medical examiner and the last prosecution witness, explained each photo.

In the pictures, most of Zimmerman’s body was charred, bruised and bloody from the burns and beating. The only parts untouched by the burns were her right ankle and calf.

Sammy Rejino, Zimmerman’s father, was in the courtroom for most of the trial, attentively watching each witness. He stepped out when the autopsy photos were shown.

The last of the prosecution’s witnesses consisted of Brown’s companions, testifying about the revelations she made to them after the killing.

Pamela Valley, a friend of Brown’s from Wisconsin, said Brown asked her to kill Zimmerman a few days after the beating. Detectives had raided Brown’s mobile home and taken her car, Valley said.

“She told me to go finish off (Zimmerman),” Valley said, testifying that Brown wanted her to kill the victim while she was in the hospital.

Valley said she instead went to police “because I knew someone got hurt, and I knew who did it.”

During questioning by defense attorney John Jay Gontarek, Valley said the defendant was a good mother to her daughter, Britnee Miller.

She said Brown always worked to provide for her family, including working a night shift at a Waffle House.

“She did the best that she could,” Valley said.

Miller, who was 16 when Zimmerman died, is a co-defendant in the case. She pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge earlier this year, though a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could affect that plea.

Brown, who wore the same white sweater as the previous day, did not testify.

The defense’s sole witness was Wendy Moye, a former Escambia County Jail inmate, who said Heather Lee, the third woman accused in the case, confided that she set Zimmerman on fire.

Lee, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2011 and testified on Tuesday. She faces up to life in prison at her sentencing next month.

Moye, an 11-time convicted felon currently serving time in the state prison in Gadsden, said she and Lee were serving time in the same dorm.

“She didn’t think the victim would make it,” Moye testified.

Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Jensen questioned Moye for several minutes about Moye’s attempts to withdraw her testimony in exchange for transferring jails and moving dorms. However, Moye maintained that she was telling the truth, even though she was using various bargaining tactics.

If the jury decides to convict Brown, members will hear arguments on whether she should be sentenced to death and will make a recommendation to the judge.

Woman could face death if convicted of 2010 beating and burning death

Pensacola News Journal

June 18, 2012

The trial of a Pensacola area woman facing the death penalty in a 2010 beating and killing is set to begin today.

Tina Brown, 41, along with her daughter, 19-year-old Britnee Miller, and Heather Lee, 29, are accused in the death of 19-year-old Audreanna Zimmerman. According to police reports, Zimmerman was attacked in March 2010 in an area down a dirt trial, east of Ashland Avenue in the Ensley area.

Zimmerman was beaten with a crowbar, shocked with a stun gun and set on fire. She died in a Mobile hospital about two weeks later.

Investigators said there was a disagreement among the women over a man.

Brown is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Jury selection is set to begin today in Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh’s courtroom.

The trial is expected to last more than a week, said Greg Marcille, chief assistant state attorney, and should wrap up by June 26. If convicted as charged, Brown would face one of two possible penalties: life in prison or the death penalty.

Originally, prosecutors were going to pursue the death penalty for both Brown and Lee. However, Lee pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge last year.

Miller, who was 16 when Zimmerman was killed, pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge earlier this year. However, Miller could be allowed to withdraw her plea, depending on a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Marcille said.

The country’s highest court is expected to rule this summer on the issue of juveniles charged with murder. The court has three options: ruling that a juvenile faces a mandatory life sentence with a first-degree murder conviction; giving a judge the option of imposing a sentence of up to life in prison; or ruling that a juvenile cannot be sentenced to life for murder.

If the court settles on a mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder, Miller will be allowed to withdraw her guilty plea and go to trial in hopes of a conviction on a lesser charge.

Lee will testify in Brown’s trial as part of her plea agreement, prosecutors said last year, and will be sentenced on July 19.

A second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of up to life in prison, but not a mandatory life sentence.

Brown, Miller and Lee are being held with no bond at the Escambia County Jail.

A death penalty trial is split into two parts. The first portion deals with the innocence or guilt of the defendant.

If Brown is convicted of first-degree murder, the jury then will hear arguments on the death penalty and make a recommendation on whether to impose it.

The judge has the final say.

The last person sentenced to death in a Pensacola courtroom was Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., who was convicted of masterminding the plot to murder Byrd and Melanie Billings in July 2009, Marcille said.

Pensacola woman pleads guilty to murder

Pensacola News Journal

November 3, 2011

A woman who has pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in a 2010 homicide will be sentenced March 15.

Heather Lee, 29, of Pensacola, and two other people are charged in the April 8 death of Audreanna Zimmerman, 19.

Lee has agreed to testify against her co-defendants as part of her plea agreement, and the State Attorney’s Office will not seek the death penalty against her, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said.

The State Attorney’s Office also decided not to pursue a kidnapping charge against Lee.

Zimmerman was beaten with a crowbar, shocked with a stun gun and set on fire March 24, 2010. She died April 8, 2010.

Zimmerman was attacked in an area that is down a dirt trail, east of Ashland Avenue.

The victim and the suspects lived in a mobile home park in the 900 block of Detroit Boulevard.

The other suspects in Zimmerman’s death are Tina Brown, 41, and her daughter, Britnee Miller, 18. Second-degree murder and kidnapping charges still are pending against Brown and Miller.

The State Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against Brown. Miller was arrested when she 17-years-old, so she isn’t eligible to be sentenced to death.