A 24-year-old man in Florida will spend the rest of his days behind bars for sexually assaulting and killing his 33-year-old neighbor, a friend of the family whom he stabbed to death before the then-16-year-old killer took the bus to high school and went to class as usual.

Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Mary P. Hatcher ordered Tyler Ryan Hirsch to serve life in a state correctional facility for the 2018 slaying of Melody Victoria Bennett, authorities announced.

The sentence came down after Hirsch in March entered an open plea — essentially a guilty plea without an agreement as to the sentence — resulting in him being convicted on one count each of first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery while armed, and burglary of a dwelling while armed, as well as three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

According to a news release from the state attorney’s office, the attack took place one day after Bennett turned 33.

Deputies with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 25, 2018, responded to Bennett’s home on County Road 625 after getting a report about a deceased woman. Upon arriving at the address, first responders made contact with Bennett’s brother, who said that he went to Bennett’s home to check on her after not hearing from her for several days.

After letting himself into Bennett’s home, the brother said he found his sister laying face-down in the living room.

Investigators soon determined that Bennet was the victim of “homicidal violence due to numerous stab wounds observed on her body.” Police took DNA samples from the scene and the medical examiner conducted an autopsy, determining that Bennett had most likely died between the night of Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 due to “multiple sharp force injuries.”

A probable cause affidavit said Bennett had defensive wounds on her hands and arms.

While canvassing the neighborhood, investigators spoke with 16-year-old Hirsch, who told police that he “knew the victim as they were neighbors and the victim was a family friend.”

“Hirsch denied any knowledge of the crime, however, officials later learned that the day the victim’s body was located – when there was a large law enforcement presence in the area – Hirsch was picked up by his school bus driver who asked what was going on, with Hirsch responding that a woman was stabbed to death,” the release states. “At that time, law enforcement officials had not released any information about the crime, nor the manner of death.”

Investigators spoke with Hirsch’s teacher, who informed them that on the morning of Jan. 22, 2018, Hirsch came to school and quickly asked if he could go to the nurse “to retrieve a band-aid” because he had “a large laceration and other minor cuts to his hand.” When asked how he was cut, Hirsch told his teacher he “didn’t want to talk about it and that it was personal.”

During a subsequent interview with investigators, prosecutors said Hirsch “story about his interactions with the victim changed.” The DNA samples collected from the scene later came back as a match for Hirsch, who was arrested and charged with Bennett’s murder in January 2019.

“This was a senseless and horrific act of violence that devastated a family and shocked an entire neighborhood,” Fifth Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie said in a statement. “We are grateful to the investigators who worked tirelessly on this case and to the judge for today’s life sentence, which ensures that the defendant will never again be in a position to harm another innocent person.”