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🚨JUSTICE SERVED: A violent offender sought early release—and the judge handed him LIFE IN PRISON instead.
In 2008, 18-year-old Queena Phu drove to her local library in Bloomingdale, Florida, to drop off a book. While on the phone with a friend, she was ambushed, dragged behind the building, brutally raped, and beaten by 16-year-old Kendrick Morris.
The assault left Queena with catastrophic brain damage, rendering her blind, paralyzed, and unable to speak or feed herself. DNA evidence later linked Morris to a previous armed rape of an elderly daycare worker months earlier.
In 2011, Morris was convicted of both attacks and given a 65-year prison sentence. However, following Supreme Court rulings regarding juvenile sentencing standards, Morris was granted a resentencing hearing in 2017 to request a reduced sentence.
Hoping to walk free earlier, Morris took his case back before Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Chet A. Tharpe. But after evaluating the brutal, unprovoked nature of the attack and Morris's behavior in custody, Judge Tharpe rejected his plea for leniency.
Instead of reducing his time, Judge Tharpe increased the punishment, sentencing Morris to consecutive life sentences.
While Queena continues to require full-time, round-the-clock care, the court ensured that her attacker will never pose a threat to society again.