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n-gger beasts kill one man, destroy his family.
Role in murder nets 25 years
Theresa Horan, the wife of a slain pizza driver, forgave Anntawanna Butler, 22, who pleaded guilty to three charges.
By Sherri M. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 7, 2004
TAVARES -- Tuesday was sentencing day for the woman involved in her husband's murder, and Theresa Horan sat painting a picture of a brown-faced angel with the word "courag
" overhead.
On the back she hand-copied a poem, slightly changing the words to give it more personal meaning for Anntawanna Butler, who admitted to police that she took part in the scheme that l
ed
o the December 2001 murder of Papa John's pizza deliveryman John Horan.
Butler, whose name is also spelled Anntwann in court documents, pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping, armed robbery and second-degree murder. Initially, she was charged with first-degree murder and could have faced a mandatory lifetime prison sentence. But as a result of the plea deal she made with the state, Butler, 22, will serve 25 years for each charge concurrently.
Surrounded by family members, friends and pizza deliverers from Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Domino's, Horan spoke to Butler in open court.
"I do forgive you from the depths of my heart. I printed this for you today to remind you to live your life with courage from this point on," Horan said, giving Butler the card she creat
ed.
"I feel for you," Horan said. "You're so young. A huge part of your life is going to be spent away from society, away from your family. But you knew going into this th
at y
ou could h
urt someone. This sentence is justified. But that doesn't mean my heart doesn't break for you."
According to
police reports, John Horan, 30, left Papa John's in Leesburg to make his last delivery of the night. After about a half-hour, his manager called police, concerned that his driver had not yet returned.
Minutes later, John Horan's body was found in the middle of Tally Box Road in Leesburg.
Quawn Franklin, 26, confessed to shooting John Horan. Franklin pleaded guilty to murder in August and was sentenced to life in prison.
In earlier interviews, he told the Orlando Sentinel that he, Butler and a juvenile who has not been charged in the case gave Papa John's a fake address when they called in and ordered three pizzas -- two with the w
orks and one with pepperoni and extra cheese.
When John Horan arrived, the three grabbed him, bound him with duct tape and threw him in the back of his own car. After a short drive t
o nearby
Tally Box Road, t
he three pushed him into a ditch. When Horan tried to escape, Franklin said, he shot him.
While Butler did not pull the trigger, she t
old police that she was involved in the scheme to kidnap and rob him.
"I didn't intend for this to happen," she said to Horan's widow in open court Tuesday, her voice quivering. "There's nothing I can do to get your husband back. I can't tell you enough how sad I am."
The incident ignited public debate about whether pizza companies should deliver in high-crime neighborhoods.
Some say it would be discriminatory to prohibit delivery in some neighborhoods. Others, including Tony Ritter, say the safety of the drivers has to be a priority. Ritter was general manager at Papa John's when John Horan wo
rked there and said he had warned higher-ups not to deliver in high-crime areas. He said they didn't listen.
The store has new owners now.
"In the desire to g
rab the bigg
est piece of pizza profit
they forget about the safety of the one person delivering the pizza," Ritter said outside the courtroom Tuesday.
Daryl Ross, owner of a Domino's franchise in Mount Dora, said he will n
ot send his drivers into dangerous neighborhoods.
"We do research on a bimonthly basis looking at high-crime areas," he said. "Those are areas we don't deliver to. To have someone shot over $20 would be absurd. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Theresa Horan is suing the former owners of the Leesburg Papa John's pizza franchise.
They knew "that if delivery persons. . . were sent into these areas, injury or death was substantially certain to occur," reads the lawsuit, filed last July.
"Maybe these pizza comp
anies had better quit putting profit over people's lives," said former Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett, one of Theresa Horan's lawyers.
Sherri M. Owens can b
e reached at sow
ens@orlandosentinel.com
or 35
2-742-5915.
n-gger beasts kill one man, destroy his family.
Role in murder nets 25 years
Theresa Horan, the wife of a slain pizza driver, forgave Anntawanna Butler, 22, who pleaded guilty to three charges.
By Sherri M. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 7, 2004
TAVARES -- Tuesday was sentencing day for the woman involved in her husband's murder, and Theresa Horan sat painting a picture of a brown-faced angel with the word "courag
" overhead.
On the back she hand-copied a poem, slightly changing the words to give it more personal meaning for Anntawanna Butler, who admitted to police that she took part in the scheme that l
ed
o the December 2001 murder of Papa John's pizza deliveryman John Horan.
Butler, whose name is also spelled Anntwann in court documents, pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping, armed robbery and second-degree murder. Initially, she was charged with first-degree murder and could have faced a mandatory lifetime prison sentence. But as a result of the plea deal she made with the state, Butler, 22, will serve 25 years for each charge concurrently.
Surrounded by family members, friends and pizza deliverers from Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Domino's, Horan spoke to Butler in open court.
"I do forgive you from the depths of my heart. I printed this for you today to remind you to live your life with courage from this point on," Horan said, giving Butler the card she creat
ed.
"I feel for you," Horan said. "You're so young. A huge part of your life is going to be spent away from society, away from your family. But you knew going into this th
at y
ou could h
urt someone. This sentence is justified. But that doesn't mean my heart doesn't break for you."
According to
police reports, John Horan, 30, left Papa John's in Leesburg to make his last delivery of the night. After about a half-hour, his manager called police, concerned that his driver had not yet returned.
Minutes later, John Horan's body was found in the middle of Tally Box Road in Leesburg.
Quawn Franklin, 26, confessed to shooting John Horan. Franklin pleaded guilty to murder in August and was sentenced to life in prison.
In earlier interviews, he told the Orlando Sentinel that he, Butler and a juvenile who has not been charged in the case gave Papa John's a fake address when they called in and ordered three pizzas -- two with the w
orks and one with pepperoni and extra cheese.
When John Horan arrived, the three grabbed him, bound him with duct tape and threw him in the back of his own car. After a short drive t
o nearby
Tally Box Road, t
he three pushed him into a ditch. When Horan tried to escape, Franklin said, he shot him.
While Butler did not pull the trigger, she t
old police that she was involved in the scheme to kidnap and rob him.
"I didn't intend for this to happen," she said to Horan's widow in open court Tuesday, her voice quivering. "There's nothing I can do to get your husband back. I can't tell you enough how sad I am."
The incident ignited public debate about whether pizza companies should deliver in high-crime neighborhoods.
Some say it would be discriminatory to prohibit delivery in some neighborhoods. Others, including Tony Ritter, say the safety of the drivers has to be a priority. Ritter was general manager at Papa John's when John Horan wo
rked there and said he had warned higher-ups not to deliver in high-crime areas. He said they didn't listen.
The store has new owners now.
"In the desire to g
rab the bigg
est piece of pizza profit
they forget about the safety of the one person delivering the pizza," Ritter said outside the courtroom Tuesday.
Daryl Ross, owner of a Domino's franchise in Mount Dora, said he will n
ot send his drivers into dangerous neighborhoods.
"We do research on a bimonthly basis looking at high-crime areas," he said. "Those are areas we don't deliver to. To have someone shot over $20 would be absurd. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Theresa Horan is suing the former owners of the Leesburg Papa John's pizza franchise.
They knew "that if delivery persons. . . were sent into these areas, injury or death was substantially certain to occur," reads the lawsuit, filed last July.
"Maybe these pizza comp
anies had better quit putting profit over people's lives," said former Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett, one of Theresa Horan's lawyers.
Sherri M. Owens can b
e reached at sow
ens@orlandosentinel.com
or 35
2-742-5915.