Teen Sentenced In Murder Of Woman, 99

'He Destroyed Our Family,' Daughter Says

POSTED: 4:23 pm EDT October 30, 2008

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- An 18-year-old Central Florida man was sentenced on Thursday to 65years in prison after pleading guilty to raping and murdering his 99-year-old neighbor.

Moise Opont was sentenced in the death of Edith Mecalla, whom he admitted to killing inside her Osceola County home in October 2007 when he was 17 years old.

Opont broke into Mecalla's home and beat one of Mecalla's daughters before attacking the 99-year-old woman.

Opont apologized in court to Mecalla's family.

"I still don't really understand what happened," Opont said. "I'm sorry for all the stress and problems that I've put you all through."

"It doesn't alter the pain," said Enid Sealy, the victim's daughter. "I know his family and his mother and father are in the same position that we are in. He has destroyed his parents, and he has destroyed our family."

Opont's father was in court for the sentencing but declined to comment.

Mecalla's family members voiced their disappointment in the sentence, saying they wanted the teen to receive 99 years in prison, one for every year of Mecalla's life.

Since Opont was 17 at the time of the murder, he was not eligible for the death penalty.