Teen Gets 45-Year Prison Sentence After Strangling Mom Over Bad Grade
Written by SOURCE on January 26, 2021
On Friday a judge sentenced a Florida teen to 45 years in prison for the crime of strangling his mom to death.
17-year-old Gregory Ramos had previously admitted to killing his mother, 46-year-old Gail Cleavenger, as the two argued over a bad grade he got back in November 2018.
He was 15 at the time of the murder.
Appearing in a Volusia County court this past week, Ramos apologized to his family, according to WESH-TV.
In 25 years his sentence will be reviewed, as ruled by the judge, and he’ll also be on probation for the rest of his life.
In December 2020, Ramos pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a dead body.
Investigators say he used his bare hands to strangle Cleavenger after she confronted him for getting a ‘D’ grade.
After killing her he reportedly used a wheelbarrow to transport her body into a van, then took her to a local church where he buried her beneath a fire pit, according to authorities.
It was also reported that Ramos and a pair of friends later set up the home to look like a burglary had occurred. In turn, Ramos told detectives he was at school when he came home to find his house burglarized, his mom gone, and her van running in the driveway. At that point he called ‘911’ to report the setup crime.
Those friends are now facing their own potential sentences, which could be up to 30-years apiece, if convicted/given the maximum punishment for being accessories after the fact to pre-meditated first-degree murder.
WKMG News 6 reporter Ezzy Castro tweeted out images of Friday’s scene in the courtroom, which included testimony from Cleavenger’s mother (see: Ramos’ grandmother), as well as a former teacher of the teen’s.
Prior to being sentenced, Ramos addressed the court and read off a letter. He said he was “here to honor my mother.”
“There are so many conversations that I wanna have with her, but now can not,” he said, according to Click Orlando. “Because of my actions, I will never get to truly know my mom. Not only have I stolen my mother for myself, but from everyone else as well.”
He had originally been facing up to life in prison, but struck a deal with prosecutors leading to the reduced-but-still-very-lengthy sentence.
