JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The man accused of killing his coworker and dumping her burned body in a Westside lake has filed a plea of guilty with a negotiated sentence.
Lee Rodarte is charged with killing 21-year-old Savannah Gold, his coworker at Bonefish Grill in Mandarin, and dumping her body in a lake on Aug. 2, 2017.
He was arrested three days later, and has admitted killing Gold, but says he did it in self defense.
Rodarte filed a Stand Your Ground claim shortly before the case was set to go to trial in the summer of 2019. When a judge denied the claim, Rodarte appealed to the First District Court of Appeals, which recently shot down that claim, returning the case to Circuit Court. The guilty plea agreement was finalized Tuesday morning, according to Rodarte's public defender Al Chipperfield.
It's is not yet clear what elements of his possible sentence have been negotiated. First Coast News has requested that information.
Rodarte's sentencing is set for an in person hearing March 11 at 2 p.m., but his guilty plea will be finalized in at a plea hearing Thursday at 1 p.m.
The case has moved slowly, and the recent appeal added additional delays. Those delays have been uniquely frustrating to the Gold family because Gold's mother, Sherri Gold, is battling Stage 4 colon cancer.
“Since Savannah’s passed away, the cancer has come back twice -- and aggressive,” Sherri Gold told First Coast News in late 2019 “If we’re talking another trial six months down the line, six months could be a very long time for me."
