CHRISTOPHER J. KANE, has been sentenced to life in prison for bludgeoning Joshua J. Elzas with a crowbar and then shooting him to death inside a Melbourne house in 2020.

KANE, 30, was convicted of second-degree murder at a jury trial in February. He faced a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years for using a firearm to kill Elzas. But at KANE’S sentencing hearing March 27, Assistant State Attorney Christine Babb argued for life in prison.

Circuit Judge Charles Crawford sided with that recommendation, citing KANE’s previous convictions and prison terms for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Witnesses and evidence indicated KANE entered the house on the 1000 block of Garfield Street on April 28, 2020, engaged in a struggle with Elzas, 28, and shot him after beating him into a stupor. Neither Kane nor Elzas lived at the home. Elzas was discovered hours later by other occupants of the address. He was deceased with extensive injuries and surrounded by blood, an arrest warrant says.