Cocoa Man sentenced to 78 years in girlfriend's death
Cocoa Man sentenced to 78 years in girlfriend's death Cocoa Man sentenced to 78 years in girlfriend's death Check out this story on floridatoday.com: http://on.flatoday.com/2z8EBO3
J.D. Gallop, FLORIDA TODAY Published 12:44 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2017 | Updated 1:43 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2017
Dennis Aviles could face a life sentence after being convicted in the 2014 shooting death of his girlfriend.(Photo: BCSO)
A 36-year-old Cocoa man who told police that two robbers shot and killed his girlfriend in a botched crack deal three years, was sentenced to 78 years in state prison for the woman's death instead.
A Brevard County jury convicted Dennis Aviles II in October of manslaughter with a firearm, tampering with evidence and making false reports to law enforcement. Brevard Circuit Judge Morgan Laur Reinmen sentenced Aviles on Tuesday.
"The state attorney did a really, really good job of explaining the story and how it evolved and how he was deceitful," said Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for the Cocoa Police Department.
"(Aviles) tried to point us in three different directions with three different stories about what happened. We were finally able to get him to admit what really took place. All of our detectives worked diligently on this case," Martinez said.
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The shooting took place August, 28 2014 in a Cocoa neighborhood.
Police surrounded the home after a call reporting shots fired at 565 Johnson St. Aviles called 9-1-1 and later told offers that his girlfriend Tahnika Michelle Duppins had been shot to death during a drug deal gone bad. Detectives quickly determined that he was attempting to deflect attention from himself with his various stories.
"What we found is that Aviles had been in an argument with and shot her. His statement was that he was that he didn't mean to shoot her. But it finally got to the truth," Martinez said.
Aviles will be 84-years-old by the time he is eligible for release.
"His time in prison will never bring the victim back to her family, but at least it gives them closure," said Detective Debra Titkanich. "Ms. Duppins's family can now begin to move forward and at least take comfort in knowing Mr. Aviles will not be able to harm anyone else."
Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com and Twitter at @JDGallop
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