By Kristen Reed
The Orlando Sentinel
DAYTONA BEACH — Andrew Scott Brewer was a budding serial killer, a sheriff’s investigator said Monday before the 21-year-old was sentenced to life for killing a neighbor.
The woman he shot three times while she ran away in horror was just his first victim, Volusia County sheriff’s investigator Greg Seymour said while asking the judge to impose a life sentence.
“His only intent was to kill her, to be a serial killer in training,” Seymour said. “When that defendant gets out of jail, another innocent person is going to die.”
Circuit Judge Joseph G. Will won’t give him the chance.
He sentenced Brewer to life in prison for the two charges he pleaded guilty to earlier this year: second-degree murder and armed burglary of a dwelling.
Brewer faced no less than 25 years behind bars for killing Jennifer Lynn Benedict, and Will said the fact that Brewer did not explain his actions played a role in his decision.
“I can’t put it back together, so I can’t come up with a reason to be generous to you today,” Will said.
Brewer, who showed no emotion during his sentencing, said little to the judge and asked for the family’s forgiveness.
“I’m not that type of person. I still can’t figure out why,” Brewer said.
Prosecutors say Brewer went to Benedict’s home on May 2, 2006, with a stun gun, a .22-caliber pistol and a Scream-style mask. He approached Benedict, 33, inside her home wearing the ghoulish mask, stunned her in the arm, and shot her in the chest, side and back as she ran outside screaming for help.
“She experienced complete and utter terror in the final moments of her life,” Assistant State Attorney Leah Case said. “That deserves the rest of his life.”
Brewer was caught after several witnesses saw him running from the Daytona Park Estates home east of DeLand. One man who knew Brewer saw him take off the mask, which was never recovered.
Investigators searched Brewer’s bedroom and found a book on serial killers, ammunition, gun magazines and violent movies. They said the scene there contrasted with the home of his victim, who was described as kind and religious.
She gave money to the church every week. She kept a Bible on her nightstand and another in her living room. Her house was decorated with family pictures and religious items.
Seymour said this case affected him personally and was one reason he has temporarily left the homicide unit.
“We tell our children to live right and do the right thing and these things won’t happen to them,” he testified. “This case goes beyond explanation.”
Benedict’s family told the judge about her bright smile, her love for children and how losing her has scarred them.
“She lit up a room. She always had a smile on her face,” said brother-in-law Greg Winquist, who got a chuckle from family members as he spoke of “Jenny’s” love of Jeff Foxworthy jokes.
They were delighted with the sentence and wept, sighed and hugged as it was announced.
“Now we can concentrate on all the happiness we had with Jennifer,” said her father, Larry Hopper.
Copyright 2007 Sentinel Communications Co.