TAMPA, Fla. -- A jury has convicted a former church youth leader of strangling a teenage boy.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge William Fuente on Monday sentenced Joshua Rosa to life in prison without parole after the 22-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder.
A message left for Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner was not immediately returned, and defense attorney Brian Gonzalez was not available for comment.
Rosa was charged in the December 2005 slaying of 13-year-old Stephen Tomlinson, who lived across the street. The boy's body was found in a wooded area of a north Tampa park. He had bruises consistent with a struggle.
Rosa told detectives he tried to save Tomlinson after finding his body in the woods.