The court record cited years of delay before Reginald Jackson and Roderick Martin accepted prison terms.
MIAMI, Fla. — A Miami-Dade murder case delayed for nearly 13 years ended when two defendants accepted plea deals in the killings of a Miami Gardens minister and her grandson after an earlier hearing fell apart.
The final pleas by Reginald Jackson and Roderick Martin resolved a prosecution that stretched from the July 2013 deaths of Annette Anderson and Tyrone Walker Jr. to an April 2026 sentencing. Jackson received 40 years in prison. Martin received 25 years. The men had faced first-degree murder accusations before pleading guilty to lesser second-degree murder charges. The outcome avoided trial, ended the risk of life sentences after conviction and closed a case prosecutors said had been slowed by several events over the years.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the case had been affected by pandemic quarantine, attorney retirements and illness. Those delays became important because the charges involved two killings that had drawn public attention in Miami Gardens from the start. Anderson and Walker were found inside a home on Northwest 207th Street on July 16, 2013. Investigators said both had been tied up and shot in the back of the head. Police believed property had been taken from the home, including debit cards and electronics. Jackson was charged in 2013, and Martin was charged two years later, but the case did not reach a final resolution until 2026.
The court appeared close to that resolution one week earlier, when the defendants arrived for a hearing that was not originally scheduled for their cases. Judge Ellen Sue Venzer agreed to call the matter because defense lawyers had told the court the men were expected to plead guilty. The proposed deal called for Jackson to receive 40 years and Martin 25 years. Jackson had initially rejected a plea the day before, but the next hearing seemed set to move forward until he looked into the courtroom gallery and did not see his mother.
Jackson became angry and said his family had been present at some point but had been told the case would not be addressed. He told the court that a previous hearing had been the last time he saw his grandmother before she died months later. He said he did not want to miss a similar chance with his mother. “I want my mom,” Jackson yelled. Venzer said the case had been called only because the court had been told guilty pleas were ready. Jackson continued shouting, stood up and left while still handcuffed to Martin. Martin had to leave with him before later returning to the courtroom alone.
The failed hearing created a problem for Martin as well. Prosecutors did not want to accept Martin’s plea without Jackson’s because the state had expected Martin to cooperate against Jackson if the case went to trial. Without that cooperation, prosecutors were not willing to offer Martin a stand-alone agreement. That meant both men were again heading toward trial. At that stage, they faced the possibility of life in prison if convicted. The failed deal also left the victims’ families and the court with more uncertainty in a case that had already consumed more than a decade.
When the case returned to court, the legal path narrowed. Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm and robbery counts. Venzer asked Martin if he was pleading guilty because he was guilty, and he said yes. Jackson gave the same basic responses needed to complete the plea. The judge then imposed the prison terms that had been discussed before the outburst. Jackson’s sentence included a mandatory minimum period, and he had already spent nearly 13 years in custody. Martin’s term also included a mandatory minimum, and he had been in custody for about one year.
Venzer used the sentencing to put the victims’ deaths back in the center of the proceeding. She said Anderson and Walker had been hogtied, shot in the back of the head and left dead while on their knees. She also said Anderson had been cooking before the attack and that food was still in the oven when the bodies were found three days later. Venzer asked both men what could have led them to kill two innocent people. Neither gave an explanation. “Of course not,” the judge said after they stayed silent.
Anderson’s life had been tied to church work and neighborhood service. She was a minister at Jesus People Ministries and had hosted Bible study at home. Earlier funeral accounts described city leaders and church members honoring her as someone who left a mark on Miami Gardens. Walker had moved from Jacksonville to live with his grandmother and was studying for a technical career. Relatives said he was kind, helpful and close to Anderson. Their deaths brought elected officials, church leaders and family members together at a funeral where mourners waited for news of arrests.
The final court hearing brought no public statement from the victims’ loved ones, who declined to comment in one report. Jackson’s attorney, Jimmy Della Fera, said he did not want to provoke another courtroom disruption by pressing Jackson to answer broader questions. He later said the resolution brought relief for the victims’ family and Jackson’s family, while also saying the killings were a loss for the community. Prosecutors said the plea spared the family and community from trial while still serving justice.
The case is now closed in Miami-Dade court, with Jackson and Martin sentenced to state prison and no trial ahead. What remains unresolved publicly is the judge’s question about why Anderson and Walker were killed inside the home in 2013.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.