GUILTY FL - Alex, 18, & Jeffrey Sosa, 14, tortured & killed, Coral Gables, 7 Oct 2006

Eyewitnesses, co-defendants and police painted a picture for the second time of the 2006 beating, torture and double-slaying in Cape Coral, allegedly at the hands of a rap group called the "Cash Feenz," during the first day of Roderick Washington's retrial...

Doerr described a night of drugs, alcohol and brutal violence at the birthday party of co-defendant Kemar Johnston. The Sosas' deaths were the result of the cooperation of many individuals acting together, one of whom was Washington...

Several individuals, including Washington and co-defendants Paul Nunez, Kenneth Lopez, Iriana Santos and Melissa Rivera, left Johnston's home with the Sosas and later returned to the home after Jeffrey and Alexis had been killed...

[Michael] Balint is accused of hog-tying Alexis Sosa with shoelaces prior to the Sosas' being tortured and killed at co-defendant Kemar Johnston''s birthday party in 2006. He has accepted a plea deal to serve 14 years in prison for two counts of kidnapping in exchange for his testimony.

Click to expand...

Alexis Sosa's family thought they had buried him nearly nine years ago; but they only buried part of him...

The pain resurfaced as the family learned of remains they didn't know existed. According to medical examiner's office records, the bones of Alexis' face and jaw, his teeth and bone fragments from his feet were held back and designated as a donation. They were found in the evidence room at the Office of the District Medical Examiner alongside other bones donated to an FGCU professor...

Soon after Alexis' death, Michael Sosa recalled the family had been asked if some of Alexis' remains could be retained. "We said, 'Absolutely not. We want all of him.'"

This concurs with an addendum to the report The News-Press obtained. On it, Harding wrote, "I inquired with the administrative staff why those remains would be listed as donation and they stated it must have been a mistake. They stated the family was quite adamant about getting the remains back for burial. I checked a copy for the death certificate which also listed the final disposition as burial."

Click to expand...

Two co-defendants in the 2006 "Cash Feenz" murders have been resentenced to life in prison, with one small but significant revision - an opportunity for early release.

Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle ruled Monday that Roderick Antwon Washington, 25, and Ashley M. Toye, 26, would serve life sentences in connection to the murders of Alexis Sosa, 18, and his nephew, Jeffrey Sosa, 14... Washington was 16 and Toye was 17 at the time of the Sosa murders...

Kemar Manley Johnston was convicted and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 30 years in prison... Kenneth Junior Lopez was sentenced to 50 years in prison in a plea deal with the state.

Melissa Rivera, Iriana Santos, Alexis Fernandez, Cody Roux and Michael Balint pleaded guilty to lesser crimes and received prison sentences that varied between 14 years and 26 years in exchange for their testimony. Paul Nunes pleaded guilty in a deal with the state to a reduced sentence of 40 years.

Click to expand...