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A convicted murderer in Florida who was released last year is back behind bars after he allegedly had sex with a minor.
The St. Petersburg Police Department arrested Xavier Love, 41, on three lewd and lascivious charges last week after he allegedly picked up a 15-year-old girl and took her back to his apartment where they had sex, according to a criminal complaint.
Love was just 16 years old in 1999 when he allegedly shot and killed Juan Jose Gonzalez in St. Petersburg during a robbery. Gonzalez, 24, answered a knock on the door at his home and was approached by Love and two other teens who demanded money. Court records say Love admitted to shooting Gonzalez, who was later pronounced dead. A judge later sentenced Love to life in prison after a first-degree murder conviction. But after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed life sentences for minors unconstitutional, Love was resentenced in 2016 to 40 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
A convicted murderer in Florida who was released last year is back behind bars after he allegedly had sex with a minor. (Florida Department of Corrections)
The Florida Department of Corrections said Love was released from prison in July 2022. He was scheduled to be on parole until 2029.
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Before he was resentenced, Love wrote a letter to the judge in December of 2015 saying he was a changed man.
“Your Honor, I’ve come a long way and I’ve learned a lot when it comes to living and I’m still learning,” Love wrote. “I understand that the teaching of life never ends. These last 16 years have took a lot out of me only to fill me back up with so much than what I didn’t have before, which is wisdom.”
He went on to say he had trouble in school and fitting in with other kids his age. His mother was “a crackhead” and his father was absent most of his life, according to Love. He said he’d been getting an education in prison and working through his learning disabilities. Love said he understood the pain he had caused Gonzalez’s family.
Love pointed out that young minds like his at the time weren’t fully developed and prone to making poor decisions.
“My young mind couldn’t deal with the peer pressure, but now, ma’am, I’m a leader,” he wrote. “Life is too short to be took for granted.”
He’s now being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bond.
