Florida Home Invasion

On February 1, 2009, a Sunday morning, a high school athlete put on a mask and his buddy put a hood over his head. Armed with an SKS rifle and a handgun, the two used a brick to shatter a sliding glass door before they stormed into Maria Lerma's home.

Ta Heem Blake went through the home with the SKS while his classmate, Marquis Sanders, armed with a handgun, took a hostage and stood lookout at the doorway. In a bedroom, Blake discovered Maria Lerma and a 27 year old man. The man grabbed a machete and was shot in the arm by Blake. Then Blake turned the SKS on Maria Lerma, shooting her in the chest and killing her.

Blake began rummaging through drawers intent on robbery. Armando Lerma had hidden behind the refrigerator, and retreated to his bedroom to get his handgun. When he encountered Blake, the dead woman's son shot his mother's killer in the spine, paralyzing him. Police found Blake laying in the doorway next to his rifle. Marquis Sanders, hearing the gunfire, had run off and left his friend to his fate.

The next day, Sanders was taken into custody at Palmetto High School. He confessed to the crime during questioning. Ta Heem Blake was still in the hospital, refusing to talk. He is expected to remain paralyzed from the neck down.

Taxpayers will pay the tab on Ta Heem Blake's hospitalization, because he is a foster child. "A foster child is in our custody, so any medical care that is not covered by Medicare, we will cover," said Erin Gillespie, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families Services. Blake had a previous arrest, a felony gun charge, on his record.

The mother of Marquis Sanders, Toy Sanders-Brown, begged the court to set a bond so he could be released from jail. "He is a loving person. Not a rowdy kid, not a street kid," she cried. Right. Marquis Sanders had two previous felony arrests, one for lewd and lascivious exhibition, and another for cocaine possession. Bond for Marquis Sanders was denied. Both teens are charged with the murder of Maria Lerma.

Classmates who knew Blake and Sanders described them as cool kids. "(Sanders) was popular, he was in my English class," said Stephen Mowery, a senior. "He’s a good kid, smart. He always makes people laugh."

Charles Merino Jr., a junior who ran track with Blake, said he does not believe his schoolmate pulled the trigger. "I know he didn’t shoot that woman, he’s too scared," he said. Merino claims they played paintball before and Blake was too nervous to shoot.

Jesse Wright, a sophomore, said the two had no reason to rob anyone. "(Blake) would have gotten into college. It wasn’t like they needed money or anything," declared Wright.

It doesn't matter how many receptions an athlete catches on Friday night, how many friends blind sycophants he collects in high school, if he commits crimes, he is a criminal. One crime such as this trumps everything else. If this is the kind of love Sanders and Blake were spreading, Armando Lerma deserves a public thank you. He absolutely stopped one vicious thug from ever victimizing another person, and hopefully made certain his partner will never walk free again. It's a shame the citizens of Florida will have to foot the bill.