JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (TCN) — A 49-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2025 beating death of his ex-girlfriend, who had recently obtained a protective order against him.
On Nov. 17, 2025, 58-year-old Alesa Leach’s landlord forced his way into her apartment and found her dead, First Coast News reports. She had not shown up for work or communicated with family members in several days and had missed a scheduled court hearing regarding an order of protection she had obtained against her ex-boyfriend, Joseph Anderson.
Investigators learned that Leach had died of blunt force injuries the head. Action News Jax reports that evidence showed Anderson had been in the home at the time of Leach’s death. Surveillance footage and Flock data showed that Anderson had been near the scene before leaving the state, according to First Coast News.
Action News Jax reports Anderson was apprehended in Connecticut and extradited to Florida for violating the protective order. He was officially served the injunction paperwork on Nov. 8 after violating the order of protection, according to First Coast News.
Anderson was arrested in March after an investigation and was charged in connection with Leach’s death, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
First Coast News reports Anderson was found guilty on Sept. 2 of violating a protection order against domestic violence, aggravated stalking, burglary with assault or battery, second-degree murder, and tampering with evidence. His defense filed a motion for a new trial on Sept. 9, but it was denied.
He was sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 10, according to First Coast News.
According to Leach’s son, John Baxter, she gave birth to him at age 14. First Coast News reports he said, “She was a young mother when she had me. … I saw her grind her way up into being the person she was, an ordained minister, a bus operator for the city of Jacksonville.”
Leach’s obituary said, “Alesa lived her life with love at the center of everything she did. As a mother, she gave selflessly. Her care was constant, her presence reassuring, and her love unconditional. She made sacrifices quietly, never asking for recognition, because loving her family was not something she did — it was who she was.”
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