TAVARES, Fla. — A man convicted of murdering a teenager and a woman inside an RV at a Clermont campground in 2022 will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Justin Lamar Jones was convicted last week of murdering Tyvionte Finister, 17, and Sandra Gaudino, 38, on Aug. 31, 2022, according to the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. On Thursday, he learned he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to Thousand Trails Orlando RV Park near Clermont on Aug. 31, 2022, in reference to a sexual battery and a murder. When deputies arrived and spoke with the sexual battery victim, they learned the crimes occurred at another location in the park, 244 Jewelfish Lane.
Deputies entered the RV on Jewelfish Lane and found Finister’s body in a bedroom and Gaudino’s body in a trash bag in the master bedroom. The sexual battery victim told deputies Jones beat Finister to death, sexually battered her, tied her up and caged her. She told deputies she had not seen Gaudino since the previous night. Jones left for a brief time and the victim escaped.
She began knocking on doors seeking help, and Jones returned to find her missing. Jones then fled the area in Gaudino’s Ford Explorer, which was later spotted in the parking lot of Publix at the corner of U.S. Highway 27 and Hartwood Marsh Road in Clermont. Soon after, Jones was seen running at a nearby Walgreens and apprehended by deputies.
During questioning, he confessed to the crimes, the SAO said.
After a three-day trial, a Lake County jury found Jones guilty of first degree murder, second degree murder, three counts of sexual battery and false imprisonment. He was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison by Circuit Judge James Baxley.
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