Today, Richard Allen Cochran, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced, to 40 years in prison, for the burglary of a home that resulted in a co-defendant being shot and killed
during the commission of the crime.
Cochran was sentenced as follows:
Count 1: Burglary While Armed – 40 years in prison
Count 2: Manslaughter with a Firearm – 30 years in prison
Count 3: Conspiracy to Commit Burglary – 5 years in prison
Count 4: Violation of Injunction Against Stalking – Credit for time served
The defendant was convicted of the charges Friday night, following a trial in Lee County. Assistant State Attorney Hamid Hunter of the State Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit prosecuted the case.
The crime happened on September 20, 2021, at 1:20 a.m., when the defendant and a juvenile defendant, both armed and wearing masks, entered a Fort Myers home, with the intent to rob the family sleeping inside. They confronted the occupants of the home, who were in their beds.
The juvenile defendant shot one of them, another juvenile, in the upper thigh. The victim’s older brother heard the gunshot, grabbed a semi-automatic firearm, and shot the juvenile burglar in self-defense. Cochran fled and his accomplice died from multiple gunshot wounds.
After an extensive investigation by Lee County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Detectives, and a DNA match on a weapon seen at the scene, Cochran was arrested in December of 2021.
A second juvenile co-defendant involved in the conspiracy, testified at trial, against Cochran. They are scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office