Sentencing is scheduled for March 15, 2024, for Kenneth Tannassee, after being convicted of Second Degree Murder and Tampering with a Witness. A jury returned the guilty verdict following a four-day trial in Collier County.
Assistant State Attorneys Laura Mason and Sarah Woodward prosecuted the case.
On August 21, 2020, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a woman found dead in a car, in the parking lot of Home Depot, on Airport Pulling Road South in East Naples. When they arrived, they found the victim in the driver’s seat of the car.
Based on witness statements, the defendant approached the victim while she was at her car. He was pacing back and forth and saying, “give it to me!” She kept responding, “I have nothing to give you.” He then stabbed her twice in the neck and left the scene.
Surveillance video shows the defendant walking towards the parking lot just prior to the murder and walking away, just after the crime. He is seen walking to a business across the street. A witness from the business said the defendant confessed to the murder.
Deputies were able to quickly identify the defendant and located him, not far from the crime scene. He had the victim’s blood on his hands, leg, and arm, as well as on the clothes he was wearing. He was immediately taken into custody.
While incarcerated at the Naples Jail, he called one of the witnesses in the case and threatened him by confronting him with knowledge of his home address, which impacted the cooperation of the witness.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office