ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 50-year-old man was arrested in connection with his roommate’s death at an Orlando apartment complex, police said.
Scott Sanders was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder after officers responded to the 5100 block of Curry Ford Road at Gaston Road for a well-being check and found James Newlyn Trent dead in an apartment.
Records show a woman who provides assistance to homeless people trying to regain their independence was at the complex delivering food to help residents. When she knocked on Trent’s door, she heard someone moving about but no one ever answered.
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She went on with the rest of her deliveries and then got a text from someone who told her to request a well-being check for Trent, so she went back to the apartment and knocked on the door again.
Police said this time, Sanders answered but wouldn’t give a clear answer about where Trent was. The woman called authorities for assistance but Sanders wouldn’t answer so they had to leave until the property manager could come to open the door, according to the report.
Between the time police left and came back, Sanders was seen taking a trash bag to the dumpster, records show.
When police entered the unit, they said they found Sanders was sitting on the sofa and had been ignoring their knocks.
According to the affidavit, there were bloodstains on the floor, a pile of bloody blankets and sheets in the bedroom and within that, there was “the top of a human head that was extremely bloody.”
Police said they also examined the bag that Sanders placed in the dumpster and found a blanket, towels and sheets that had bloodstains on them.
Records show Sanders was interviewed but his comments were redacted from the report.
He was taken into custody Thursday night and later placed under arrest, according to police.
The report did not indicate how Trent died.