Jonathan Arce Teen Killer Murders Elderly Neighbor

Jonathan Arce was fourteen years old when he murdered his elderly neighbour. According to court documents Jonathan Arce broke into the home next door and was in the process of robbing it when the elderly woman came home. Arce responded by stabbing the woman over a hundred times causing her death. Jonathan Arce was initially sentenced to life in prison this was later reduced to seventy five years. This teen killer current release date is 2069.

Jonathan Arce 2023 Information

DC Number:	E12367
Name:	ARCE, JONATHAN
Race:	HISPANIC
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	09/16/1983
Initial Receipt Date:	08/30/2000
Current Facility:	MARION C.I.
Current Custody:	CLOSE
Current Release Date:	05/15/2069

Jonathan Arce More News

Jurors took only an hour Friday to find an Oviedo teenager guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing and bludgeoning death of his 68-year-old neighbor. Jonathan Arce, 16, was immediately sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the slaying of retired librarian June Stillman Because he was 14 at the time of the slaying, that was the only sentence possible. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that no one under the age of 17 should be given the death penalty.

Arce, who had spent much of the weeklong trial with his head bowed, showed no emotion. He did not testify. In fact, defense attorney Landon Miller offered no evidence. He had listed a Maitland psychologist, Michael K. Johnson, as a witness but did not call him. Johnson would have testified that Arce had an IQ of 70, Miller said. Although the trial is over, key questions remain: Why did Arce kill Stillman, his neighbor who lived two doors down, and why was the attack so brutal? What made a slight boy who stood just 4 feet 9 inches tall so angry that he left Stillman with 115 wounds, more than 80 of them cuts and punctures? Stillman bled to death on her garage floor March 10, 1998.

Later that morning, Arce was discovered behind the wheel of her Toyota Corolla, trying futilely to back out of her driveway. Police found the victim’s money, including a 1925 silver dollar, in his pockets. They found her jewelry and blank checks in his house. Two knives and several garden tools, including an ax, a hoe, a shovel and shears, many with blood on them, were found scattered near the body. Medical Examiner Sara Irrgang said it was impossible to say which ones had been used in the killing. The victim’s blood proved to be an effective weapon for prosecutors, who used DNA analysis and bloody shoeprints to prove that Arce was the only possible killer. A trail of blood indicated the attack started in the kitchen, then moved to the garage, where it appeared Stillman either touched or was pushed into three walls and may have twice tried to get outside.

After she pressed unsuccessfully against the main garage door, she circled back to a side door near her washer and dryer, said Leroy Parker, a crime scene expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That door was covered with blood from someone pressing against it, Parker said. There also was a bloody smear on the doorjamb. That smear suggests Stillman may have gotten partway out the door but was dragged back inside, said Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott. “I knew my mother was a courageous person,” said daughter Beth McGreggor. “This just reinforces that.” Miller on Friday conceded that Arce was the killer.

However, he argued that the boy went into a killing “frenzy” and was guilty only of second-degree murder or manslaughter. A second-degree murder conviction would have sent Arce, whose only previous crime was skipping school, to prison for as little as 22 years. It is not clear now exactly what will happen to Arce, who has grown 4 inches since his arrest but is still a tiny 5 feet 3 and 110 pounds. He is being put on suicide watch at the Seminole County Jail. He will be transferred to a state prison in the next few weeks. Arce’s pastor, Hector Santiago of Mision Christiana Hispana, visited the defendant Thursday. “Spiritually he is strong,” Santiago said. “Sometimes he cries, but he’s clear in terms of whatever decision comes, he knows God is with him.” Asked if the boy had expressed any remorse, Santiago said, “The only thing he continues to say is that God has forgiven him.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2000-08-26-0008260424-story.html

Jonathan Arce Other News

 Jonathan Arce, the slight Oviedo teenager charged with killing a 68-year-old neighbor who trusted him to watch her cat, does not know how the retired librarian died, his attorney said Monday.

Arce, 16, went into shock and blacked out during a struggle between the two, Landon Miller told jurors on the opening day of Arce’s trial. He is charged with first-degree murder.

Arce is accused of killing June Stillman, a retired University of Central Florida librarian, on March 10, 1998. She bled to death on her garage floor, suffering more than 80 stab and puncture wounds.

Miller’s blackout theory is new and varies wildly from what Arce told police the day of the slaying.

Arce, who was 14 at the time, initially said he was ordered inside Stillman’s house by a masked person armed with a gun and knife.

The hooded stranger held him hostage for about two hours, then let him go, he said.

Arce later changed his statement, telling police he stabbed Stillman to death after she came at him with a knife. That confession, however, has been thrown out, so jurors will not hear it.

What they will hear about is a wealth of physical evidence. Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott said blood stains prove that Arce and Stillman struggled in the kitchen and that Stillman was attacked at least three more times at various locations in the garage.

Her injuries suggest a monumental struggle. She had 36 defensive cuts to her hands, and one of her fingertips was amputated, Tabscott said.

The handyman who discovered her body peered through a garage window. “He sees blood all over. He sees debris, garden tools, trash cans — various things — broken pots all over,” Tabscott said.

That witness, William Benton, 50, is to be the state’s lead witness today.

A note left on Stillman’s kitchen table suggests she discovered several blank checks and pieces of jewelry missing.

Police theorize that she confronted Arce.

Miller said Arce was walking to the school bus stop when Stillman invited him inside.

They argued, Miller said, and that escalated to “physical combat.” Stillman grabbed a knife and attacked Arce several times, he said.

Arce suffered a cut to his hand then went into shock and blacked out, Miller said.

“The next thing Arce remembers, he is standing in the garage. Mrs. Stillman was on the ground. She was indeed dead,” Miller said.

Miller did not say his client was innocent, but asked jurors to find the teenager guilty of “something less” than first-degree murder.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2000-08-22-0008220217-story.html

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