JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who was accused in the gruesome death of a 25-year-old woman at a Southside apartment complex pleaded guilty to murder charges on Thursday.
Markas Fishburne was arrested in 2019 on charges of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His charges were later upgraded to first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Recommended Videos
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, investigators were called to the Green Tree Place Apartments on Princeton Square Boulevard after his roommate came home from work and found his apartment covered in blood.
MORE: Ex-girlfriend says man accused of killing woman at Southside apartment was violent, controlling
Inside the apartment, JSO investigators found a woman between the ages of 20-25 who they believed had been killed during a struggle.
She was later identified as Aisha Levy, 25.
Levy had a bright future in front of her, Marlow Levy, her father, and Dr. Anthonia Levy, her stepmother, told News4Jax.
“She was still finding her way through the world, but she was happily trying to figure out the world and trying to figure out herself. But she was a beautiful person,” Marlow Levy said. “To us, she really was special and she was a light to us. And whenever she was around, she smiled, she laughed a lot.”
RELATED: Woman killed in Southside apartment was ‘beautiful inside and out,’ parents say
Marlow Levy said he was at the airport when he got a phone call, saying his daughter was missing. He said he learned his daughter’s boyfriend came home to find their Southside apartment covered in blood. Her boyfriend told police he smelled bleach and noticed his gun was missing.
According to Fishburne’s arrest report, Levy’s body had been wrapped up and stuffed into a plastic storage bin that was located in a closet.
Fishburne was taken into custody at the Jacksonville Greyhound Bus terminal and arrested shortly before he boarded a bus for Indiana. Fishburne told investigators that he and Levy had an “altercation,” according to the arrest report.
Court records show Fishburne has a history of violent attacks. While investigating Fishburne’s past, News4Jax discovered he was arrested Dec. 12 on a domestic battery charge after a fight with his father, according to court records. The I-TEAM found an injunction from April, when a Jacksonville mother successfully petitioned a judge for a restraining order against Fishburne, claiming she feared for her and her family’s lives. Additionally, court records show he has several previous arrests in Indiana on charges that include battery and invasion of privacy.
The state is seeking the death penalty and the penalty phase began on Friday.
