DeLand, FL - A 23-year-old Holly Hill man, a former gang member who has been in jail since August 2013 for a murder he committed, now knows his sentence. Emmanuel Butler will be serving life in prison.
Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced Butler to life for murder and 50 years for armed robbery. Because Butler was a juvenile at the time of the crime he is entitled to a review of the sentence after serving 25 years in prison.
Butler was arrested for murder for gunning down retired car salesman 67-year-old Donald Clark as he was doing laundry at the Golfview Apartments, just off Beville Road, on June 2, 2013.
In 2016, a jury found Butler guilty of first degree premeditated murder and first degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm. An issue with a witness caused a sentencing delay. Butler was only 17 at the time of the crime so he was sentenced to life in prison rather than the death penalty.
Butler's cousin was convicted of being an accessory after the fact. His grandmother was charged with a misdemeanor, false report of a crime, after refusing to tell investigators what she knew about the case.
