JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Shanda Merritt pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges Wednesday morning for the 2010 murder of a Gainesville man.
On Wednesday morning, Merritt went before a judge and pleaded guilty to the murder and kidnapping of Charles Soukup. During the same hearing, she was sentenced to life for the attempted murder of her ex-boyfriend Carl Davis.
Merritt was arrested in November 2010 after police found 83-year-old Charles Soukup dead in the woods near the Jacksonville International Airport.
According to police, Merritt and three other suspects kidnapped Soukup near JIA, stole his rented silver Jeep Liberty and dumped his body nearby.
A day after Soukup was reported missing, police found Merritt driving his stolen Jeep. Merritt was arrested in relation to the Soukup case and was also charged with attempted murder for shooting her ex-boyfriend Carl Davis.
Merritt will be sentenced for the Soukup murder and kidnapping on December 21, 2012.
