Teen Killed Neighbor, Then Wouldn’t Explain Cuts on His Hand to School Nurse. Now He Learns His Fate By Lesley Cosme Torres

A man who sexually assaulted and killed his neighbor — then hopped on the bus to his high school — was sentenced to life in prison, seven years after her murder. 

Tyler Ryan Hirsch, now 24, was sentenced to life in prison for killing Melody Victoria Bennett, the State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida announced on Aug. 1.

Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home on Jan. 25, 2018 and found Bennett dead with numerous stab wounds all over her body. Her brother had gone to her house to check on her after not hearing from her in a few days. The medical examiner determined she had died about 3 days earlier.

Officials conducted a neighborhood canvas and spoke with Hirsch, who said Bennett was a family friend, per the sheriff’s office statement. He denied knowing anything about her death, and later that day got on the bus to school as police swarmed the neighborhood.

When the bus driver asked what happened, Hirsch said a woman had been stabbed to death — even though authorities hadn’t yet released any information on the crime, the State’s Attorney said.

Law enforcement later showed up at Hirsch’s school, where they asked to speak to his teacher. The teacher said that on the morning of Jan. 22, Hirsch asked to go to the school nurse to get a bandage for a large cut and several other small cuts on his hand. When asked what happened, Hirsch told his teachers it was personal and he didn’t want to talk about it, per the statement.

Authorities then interviewed Hirsch again, who changed his story about what happened, per the State’s Attorney. They then collected a DNA sample to compare with some found at the scene — and after the DNA matched, Hirsch was arrested by authorities on Jan. 17, 2019, nearly a year after Bennett’s murder.

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In March, Hirsch entered an open plea and was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery while armed, burglary of a dwelling while armed and three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, per the statement.

“This was a senseless and horrific act of violence that devastated a family and shocked an entire neighborhood,” Walter Forgie, Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant State Attorney said in a statement. “We are grateful to the investigators who worked tirelessly on this case and to the judge for today’s life sentence, which ensures that the defendant will never again be in a position to harm another innocent person.”