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Orlando man gets life sentence for 2018 murder of 83-year-old woman

Billy Desrosiers, 33, found guilty of first-degree murder, assault, records show

Billy Desrosiers

ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando man received a life sentence for murdering a grandmother back in 2018, according to Orange County court records.

Billy Desrosiers, 33, was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday more than four years after he shot and killed his 83-year-old neighbor, Ruby Steplight, court records show.

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In September 2018, deputies said Desrosiers had shot into Steplight’s home along 24th Street from the outside, striking her 14-year-old granddaughter in the leg.

Afterward, Desrosiers went into the home and shot Steplight, killing her, deputies said.

According to deputies, Desrosiers said that he was about to shoot and kill Steplight’s granddaughter, but he decided “she was too young to die” and shot Steplight instead.

The arrest report shows that Desrosiers later told deputies that he’d been enraged after a fight with one of Steplight’s family members injured his girlfriend, so he armed himself and went to the house “with the intention to kill.”

Desrosiers was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Steplight’s murder.

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