Left: Britney Andrus. Right: Tyler Best (Highland County Sheriff).
A Florida woman is facing a life prison sentence after a jury convicted her of murdering and robbing her husband”s 88-year-old great-grandfather so she could run off with her boyfriend to Michigan.
Britney Andrus, 29, was found guilty of second-degree murder, burglary and grand theft of a motor vehicle on Friday in the 2020 beating death of James Little at his Sebring home. Her boyfriend, 25-year-old Travis Best, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and reportedly testified against Andrus at her trial.
Andrus and Best were living in the mother-in-law suite attached to Little’s home. Her husband was in jail at the time of the murder. In the days leading up to the slaying, Andrus and Best hatched a plan to steal from Little’s home, including his car and jewelry from his wife who had died just a month earlier, cops wrote in a probable cause arrest affidavit. They planned to travel to Michigan to live with her grandmother, cops said.
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Shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2020, Andrus ran to a neighbor’s house and claimed she had just found Little unconscious in his bedroom. He was rushed to a hospital where he died five days later.
Although it took a year to arrest Andrus and Best for the slaying, investigators suspected them almost immediately.
Little’s bedroom was in disarray with open drawers and missing jewelry boxes. His car and wallet with some $1,500 in cash inside also had been stolen. In addition, there was a missing safe that was hidden and only close family members would have known about, cops noted.
“Based on the scene, it was evident the victim was awoken by an intruder(s), was struck multiple times, and laid hurt in the residence for some time before EMS and law enforcement being notified,” detectives wrote in the affidavit.
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There was also “blood evidence” throughout the room, the affidavit said. An autopsy concluded Little died of blunt force trauma to the head. The suspects struck Little 12 times with an unknown object and left him to die while they ran off with his possessions. Best used some of the money from Little’s wallet to buy methamphetamine.
Detectives cobbled together surveillance videos of the couple driving around town in Little’s car and spending his money. Investigators also spoke with some of their friends who said Andrus showed up with blood on her shirt. Andrus said “I don’t know what I did” and that the blood on her shirt was not hers. She then stated “It was like he was asking for it anyways.”
According to a courtroom report from the Highlands News-Sun, Best testified against Andrus, saying killing Little was her idea.
“I told her I wanted nothing to do with it,” Best reportedly testified. “It was a big argument, I packed a suitcase and left.”
The items in the suitcase were stolen from Little. They then went to a friend’s house where Andrus admitted to killing Little, Best told the jury.
“She said, ‘I did it, I did it.’ I thought she killed this man. I saw blood on her collar,” he said.
Andrus is slated to be sentenced on Sept. 15.
Little’s son told the News-Sun he was pleased with the outcome of the case.
“I am extremely gratified by the verdict,” he said. “It was something the family was waiting for for five years.”
