JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Judge Jeb Branham has accepted Lee Rodarte’s guilty plea to the second-degree murder of 21-year-old Savannah Gold.
The plea agreement would have Rodarte serve 40 years in state prison rather than the life sentence that he was eligible to if the case went to trial.
Rodarte filed to plea guilty on Tuesday.
Police say Lee Rodarte Jr. and Savannah Gold, worked together at Bonefish Grill in Mandarin, where Rodarte was a manager. The two were believed to have had an on-again, off-again relationship.
At the height of investigation, Rodarte changed his story multiple times, even telling Action News Jax’s Bridgette Matter it was an accident, before confessing and leading police to her body.
Rodarte would file a “stand your ground” defense, where he argued he killed Gold because he thought his life was in danger. That motion was dismissed.
The State Attorney’s Office says that an investigation by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office revealed surveillance footage that showed Gold parked her car in the parking lot of the restaurant, exited her vehicle and entered Rodarte’s nearby vehicle through the passenger side on August 2, 2017. The two were coworkers who had dated. The surveillance video shows a struggle ensued in the car, followed by Rodarte driving away from the scene with Gold still in his car. Rodarte was arrested and, while being interviewed by homicide detectives, admitted to being in the parking lot, killing Gold, and disposing of her body.
Gold’s body was found in a pond off Club Duclay Road. Traffic tickets issued to Rodarte in 2006 show that he once lived on the same street where the body was found,
His sentencing is set for March 11.
Cox Media Group
