A man is executed for breaking into a family’s home using long-handled branch cutters

ORLANDO FLORIDA: According to Florida officials, a man who is suspected of using branch cutters to break into a house and attack a family has been sentenced to life in prison. According to the Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial District, Lyndell McFrank Demps, 52, was found guilty on three counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and home invasion robbery. 

On September 10, the state attorney’s office made the sentencing public. When McClatchy News contacted Demps’ lawyer on September 11, they did not hear back right away.

Hitting the man with branch cutters

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Demps served 26 years in jail for an attempted armed carjacking conviction before being released in November 2022. He used long-handled branch cutters to break into a family’s house seven months later, according to an arrest affidavit from the Orlando Police Department.

On June 15, 2023, at two in the morning, Demps went into the family’s back patio and began going through the things there. At that point, the homeowner left to go smoke, according to the police. According to the authorities, Demps began hitting the man with the branch cutters when they first came into contact, cutting his hands, face, and head.

Demps is charged with breaking the sliding glass door leading into the house and taking out one of the man’s teeth. Demps then approached the man’s mother-in-law and wife, requesting money from them, according to the police.

Breaking into daycare

According to authorities, home security footage shows him accosting the mother-in-law and other family members in the living room, swinging a branch cutter up and down as he attacks them and demands money. When he learned that one of them was trying to call 911, he grabbed their phones, according to the police.

Eventually, authorities said, he entered a bedroom, seized a jar of coins, and ran away. After that, he is suspected of breaking into a daycare before the cops discovered him.

According to authorities, Demps informed them he was homeless and had gone onto the porch to get food or money, but he stayed because it was pouring heavily. The homeowner he met initially, who suffered the most serious injuries in the attack, received a letter from him apologizing. Police said he said in his letter, “I am really, really sorry and I wish that the outcome was different.” “I hope things are better for you.”