A 40-year-old Tennessee man will spend the rest of his life in prison after sadistically kidnapping a 22-year-old woman and forcing her to overdose on a variety of drugs as part of a sadistic revenge plot after the victim reported that he had raped her just days before.
Latawyne Osborne formally pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count of aggravated sexual battery in the horrific 2024 death of Danishka Melina Sibaja Mejia.
Osborne’s guilty plea ensured that he would not face a trial and the death penalty. Knox County Criminal Judge Hector Sanchez subsequently sentenced Osborne to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to McClatchy News, on April 3, 2024, Mejia reported to the Knoxville Police Department that Osborne sexually assaulted her.
She told police that she had fallen asleep at Osborne’s house a few days prior after drinking and smoking marijuana.
She awoke partially undressed, her tampon removed, and went to the hospital, where DNA evidence allegedly confirmed Osborne had raped her.
The night after she reported the rape, Osborne and two others reportedly broke into Mejia’s home and forced her and two others into the basement, including a nine-month-pregnant woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend. Osborne initially attempted to force Mejia to execute the boyfriend, but when she refused, he forced her to snort a bag of drugs at gunpoint until she passed out.
Prosecutors claimed that even after Mejia had passed out, Osborne forced a cocktail of additional drugs into her mouth, including fentanyl, cocaine, meth, and heroin, while filming the inhumane ordeal on his cellphone, according to Knoxville NBC affiliate WBIR.
Osborne’s alleged co-conspirators, 21-year-old Marquis Ellis and 32-year-old Edward Wilson, face first-degree murder and other charges.
“This was truly a heinous crime,” Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel said in a statement issued after the arrests.
Prosecutors said that after Osborne forced Mejia to snort the drugs, the three men joked about how long it would take her to die before Osborne allegedly placed a bag over her head and struck her in the face several times.
After ensuring Mejia’s death, the trio shot the couple who was with him, but both survived and were able to tell investigators about the barbaric crime, according to McClatchy.
During the home invasion, one of Osborne’s alleged accomplices reportedly shot him in the leg. He went to a nearby hospital for treatment and, when questioned, told authorities that Mejia had overdosed and he was attempting to help when an unknown assailant broke into her home and shot him.
Following the murder, Ellis and Wilson allegedly stole Mejia’s car, which they then set on fire near Knoxville College.
According to WBIR, after Osborne was arrested, investigators seized his cellphone, which contained images and videos of Mejia’s murder as well as Osborne groping and raping her several days before.
